Frozen Moonlight
by JaneDrew
Summary: In high school, Kaoru Kamiya escaped from a demon. Five years later, she meets a man who looks awfully familiar...
1. Burning Bright

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

* * *

Kaoru Kamiya had no idea that the red-haired boy was a demon when she met him, but if anybody had told her, she wouldn't have been at all surprised. 

Moving through the high school courtyard with a feline grace, he manuevered his way around the chattering cliques and students congregating under the scraggly trees and easily took his place at a table full of slim cheerleaders with perfect blonde highlights and football players proudly showing off their varsity letter jackets. The two girls on either side of him immediately broke off their conversations and turned to face him, practically batting their eyelashes as they both attempted to engage him in conversation.

'_Tyger, tyger, burning bright... in the forests of New East Capitol High...'_

Kaoru grinned to herself slightly at the image, her attention briefly distracted from her book when the boy's bright hair blazed in the sunlight as he threw back his head and laughed at something one of the jocks had said, and in response, the rest of the group laughed as well. Then she scowled at herself for getting drawn in to the activities of the school's most popular table.

'_What can those airheads possibly be saying that is amusing him that much?'_

The new student had only arrived two weeks ago, but his acceptance into the ranks of the school's most popular students had taken, at most, a half a day. He in turn accepted his sudden popularity with ease and grace, as if it was exactly what was due to him. Kaoru very much doubted that he knew she existed, let alone had any idea what her name was, in spite of the fact that they had two classes together,

'_Not to mention the fact that you caused a fire drill in last week's Home Ec class and the whole school had to be evacuated for an hour and a half_,' she thought to herself.

Hmm... on second thought, maybe it was better that as few people as possible associated her with that particular incident.

Once again, she found her attention wandering to the group across the courtyard, in particular the boy, dressed in a dark blue shirt and faded black jeans, who seemed not to notice the slightly chilly spring temperatures. What was it about him? He was never clumsy, or awkward; every movement he made, no matter how small, seemed to be controlled and deliberate. Kaoru had studied kendo in her father's dojo since practically before she could walk, and could recognize the body- and self-awareness of martial arts training whenever she saw him effortlessly wend his way through the crowds in the halls between classes. His hair was certainly unique, not only in its color, but in the fact that it was long and pulled back into a high ponytail that threw the sharp lines of his somewhat thin face into relief. There was a single scar running down one side of his face, giving his occasional smirk a particularly wicked edge.

Kaoru caught her breath sharply and looked back down at her book in an instant as the boy, seemingly aware of her scrutiny, lifted his head and looked straight at her.

'_And those eyes...'_

She had never seen—had never imagined—that anybody could have eyes like that, the color of polished amber, that caught the light the same way that his hair did and gave him an air of wildness that was almost palpable.

'_Dangerous... predatory... and not the standard "teenage boy out to make trouble and get laid" predatory, either..._

_What is it about this boy?"_

"Battousai!" came a happy cry from a girl just entering the courtyard. She waved and gave a cheerful grin that Kaoru personally found a little too vapid to be flirtatious and headed over to the table, where she pulled proceeded to pull over a chair and position it so that she supplanted the girl sitting to the redhead's immediate right. He smirked slightly before turning to ask her something that made her giggle shrilly and blush.

'_Battou, noun. One of the many,many Japanese words that means sword. Battou, verb. To draw one's sword, with lethal intent. Sai... hmm.. non-word used to turn something into a nickname in older Japanese, with the connotation of "Lord" or "Master of"... _

_How on earth did someone get a nickname that means "Master of Lethal Sword-drawing"? Did he come up with it himself? Did he just walk into his shiny new school and decide that he needed a shiny new name to go with it?'_

She knew that, while the students flocking around Battousai probably had no idea what they were really saying when they called him by the name he had given them, they did think that it was a cool nickname, especially the way that he tended to say it when he introduced himself. Confident in his self-description, sure of his own identity, slightly mysterious, and evaluating its effect on whoever he was talking to.

'_Or did somebody else give it to him? What on earth could a boy his age have done to merit a name like that?'_

Just then, the bell rang, indicating that her lunch period was coming to an end, and that Kaoru needed to head back inside.

'_Hooray for English class.. dynamic, panoramic English class...'_ she mentally sang to herself as she headed down the halls.

It was her favorite class, along with Science, and she knew that there was a very un-studentlike bounce in her step as she headed down the hall.

The teacher was passionate about her subject, and managed to awaken that same interest in her students. She made grand sweeping gestures while writing on the board, puncutating her statements with lots of exclamation points and enthusiastic hand movements. Several of the students had bets on how long it would take before the chalk flew right out of her hand and hit some unsuspecting student on the head. Again.

There was only one thing that could spoil Kaoru's good mood as she headed into the classroom, ready for a full period of discussion about gender roles in "Macbeth," and that was...

A shrill squeal from somewhere behind her had Kaoru wincing, but she refused to turn around. Turning around meant confirming what she already knew, and she preferred to let herself enjoy the delusion that it had been something else, someone other than...

"Ohmygod! I _love_ that new jacket! It is _so_ cool- that color is _perfect_ for you, Tiff!"

Tiffany Caroline Burgess. And, right behind her, her number one sycophant and best friend since kindergarten..

"Thanks, Sandee!"

Sandra Davis McMurphy. Both of them perfectly tanned, perfectly blonde, perfectly dressed, and perfectly dreadful.

Kaoru sighed. She supposed it was too much to hope for that they would be skipping class again, after the lecture they'd gotten last time, but wishful thinking often made life so much easier.

She tried to console herself that she could spend the period mentally drawing extremely unflattering comparisons between Tiffany, Sandra, and the Three Weird Sisters... or possibly Lady Macbeth... but, as the two of them swept past her and gave her identical looks that managed to combine scorn with a refusal to acknowledge her very existence, even her powers of sarcastic observation failed.

She knew exactly what it was that they saw when they looked at her... what everybody in school saw.

Kaoru Kamiya, always wearing clothes from Good Will, or hand-me-downs from her cousin Megumi...granted, they were always very high-quality, and showed a definite flair, but they were never the right colors or cut for Kaoru to look good in, and were always just enough out of style to make it clear that they were not new...

Kaoru Kamiya, going from class to the library to the dojo, always keeping busy but never spending much time with people...

Kaoru Kamiya, whose mother's death had plunged her father into a deep depression from which he had taken years to recover, who had plunged herself determinedly into housework and schoolwork and any other kind of work she could find to try to keep herself busy and make ends meet as her father's dojo continued to provide the family with a meager income.

She gave herself a mental slap upside the head in an attempt to snap herself out of the slight funk. _'Come on, Kaoru; this is high school, the place that makes Dante's vision of Purgatory look like a stroll through the park. All you need to do is get through it with your sanity reasonably intact and then you're off to college, where they supposedly keep the idiots under better control, or at least give them nice frat sweatshirts so that they can be easily identified..'_

'_Why on earth would you expect anybody here to look at you, see something that nobody else can see, and prepare to cue the sweeping romantic theme music while cherubs start throwing rose petals?'_

Fortunately, most of the students in the classroom wanted to be there, or at least didn't wish that they were somewhere else, so the discussion neither died nor got diverted into an epic description of the manifold wonders of the local mall. Aside from a brief, bored comment from Tiffany—or possibly Sandra; sometimes Kaoru honestly found it hard to tell—about how only freaks and, well, their freaky friends believed in evil witches and demons and stupid stuff like that, things even stayed relatively intellectual.

Kaoru stayed after class to discuss the upcoming essay project with the teacher. She wanted to do something slightly different from the assignment, and needed to make sure that that would be okay. Happy to get permission, she didn't realize how late it was getting until she looked at her watch in the hallway.

'_Math! Test! Test, in math, in five minutes, and on the other side of the building! AAAAAHH!'_

As she scampered down the hallway, dodging around her fellow students with practiced ease, Kaoru frantically tried to run over the material on the test one more time. She'd been planning on spending her lunch period studying with Misao, but the girl had been nowhere to be seen, and Kaoru had gotten distracted by her book.

'_If one panicked high school student leaves Classroom A at approximately 1:45 pm, and travels down a crowded hallway at a rate of...'_

Her arithmetic was suddenly interrupted when she spun round a corner, ran into something surprisingly solid, and found herself staring at a dark blue shirt that she knew she'd seen before.

She exhaled, startled, and glanced up to see extremely amused amber eyes looking down at her. He didn't say anything, but one corner of his mouth quirked up in a half-grin. He also made no move to get out of her way, simply standing there as if he had all the time in the world.

'_What on earth is he waiting for? Me to swoon, or blush, or start batting my eyelashes at him? Hello, not a bleached-blonde-cheerleading-fan-fluttering... ok, concentrate; math test! Starting..well, pretty much right now... Ack!'_

"Out of my way, you idiot!" she practically snarled, before ducking around him and heading off down the hallway.

She didn't turn around, but she could feel his amused stare on the back of her neck all the way down the hall, and even after she turned the corner to where her classroom waited.

The test was actually not as bad as Kaoru had thought it would be, but that didn't mean she was going to let Misao off unscathed. "Where WERE you, you overly-caffeinated weasel? We were supposed to study! Remember? Not everybody is automatically brilliant at this."

To give her credit, Misao had the decency to blush. She fidgeted nervously from one foot to the other and looked down at the floor as she said, "Um.. sorry, Kaoru.. I..um.. guess that I got busy in the library and lost track of time..."

Kaoru fixed her with a gimlet-eyed stare. "Misao. When you say you "got busy in the library," I _really_ hope that you mean you were doing important research on a new cure for cancer or possibly a way to increase the intellectual capabilities of our football team, and not that you and that boyfriend of yours were doing things that I really don't want to know about in the stacks again. And please don't tell me which section you were in; some of us have to do research in there, you know."

Working from the theory that that the best defense was a good offense, Misao retorted, "Oh, and what on earth was keeping you, young lady? I happen to know that it does not take _that_ long to get from your English class to this side of the building, and you were actually late!"

"Don't change the subject! Actually, don't say anything about the previous subject either, but don't make it sound like I was late because of a _boy_."

"Ah. Well, then, why were you late?"

"Um.. well, it was.. because of a boy. I mean, I ran into the new kid in the hall. Literally. And then he wouldn't get out of my way."

"Reeeeeaaally..." Misao drawled, her eyes sparking mischeviously.

"Stop. It. Now." Kaoru warned. She recognized the symptoms, and knew that she had to do something before Misao either started formulating absurd matchmaking plans, or surreptitiously humming, "Kaoru and Battousai, sittin' in a tree.." whenever she thought it would be most embarassing. "I am not now, nor will I ever be, interested. And he's too surrounded by perky blondeness to notice anybody outside of his social league, unless it's for purposes of mockery or otherwise."

"Hmm.. but maybe he's looking for a change from all that..."

"Misao, I'm telling you right now; nothing good will come of doing whatever your crazed brain is coming up with right now. It would end up like "Carrie," except with way more carnage. And _you_ would be first on the list."

Giving a long-suffering sigh, Misao said, "Ok, ok; fine. But you have to admit, he's definitely eye candy of the highest magnitude."

"Yes, fine; he is definitely too sexy for Milan, New York, Japan, and Poughkepsie, but... there's something about him that... that I just can't put my finger on, ok?"

"Oooo.. so, you're saying that there are things about him that you _want_ to put your fingers on?"

"MISAAOOOO!" Several students turned at Kaoru's enraged shriek, but, seeing that it was just Kaoru chasing Misao around with a murderous look in her eyes and her binder brandished high, quickly shrugged and went back to whatever they'd been doing.

After school, Kaoru went to her favorite spot in the library, a set of chairs that nobody ever bothered with, where she could spend a couple of hours lost in books before heading back home.

It was time that she always took just for herself, between school and the rest of her day. She found the book that she had been reading on the shelves and started walking back through the different sections to her secret lair.

'_Reference section connected to the science; science connected to geography; geography connected to the history; history connected to the... blonde chick draping herself over the red-headed guy... .Dammit! This is all Misao's fault for infecting the library with make-out vibes...'_

Fortunately, when Kaoru risked a closer glance, the two teens in front of her were not in fact engaging in a practical demonstration of pages forty to forty-five of the sex-ed textbooks. The blonde... Ashley? Stephanie? Lori? Bertha?... was definitely attempting to plaster herself all over Battousai, her arms winding around his neck as she somehow managed to slink while standing still. However, his expression, rather than lustful, seemed...bored, and his arms were calmly at his sides rather than groping the girl who was pressing herself up against him and clearly deciding whether to go for his neck or his ear.

Kaoru gritted her teeth. This was _her_ turf that these idiots were playing on, and if it hadn't been library property, she would have attempted to brain them both with her copy of _Introduction to the Romantic Poets, Vol. 2._

Her presence went totally unnoticed by the girl, who was clearly more interested in getting Battousai interested in what she was doing, but Kaoru blinked as her Glare of Death was met with a cool stare from a pair of amber eyes, and the slightest of arm movements that made it look like he was going to attempt to pry off the blonde barnacle and say something.

She really didn't want to deal with it. With either of them. Turning on one heel, Kaoru fled with a rapid, annoyed half-stomping gait, back to the library check-out. If she couldn't read here without being disturbed, she was just going to have to go someplace else. A someplace else that would doubtless be full of people, who she didn't want to deal with at the moment, and noise, which would interrupt her reading.

'_Stupid, over-sexed, wears-his-jeans-so-tight-they-must-cut-off-the-circulation-to-his-brain..'_ Part of her own brain was attempting to point out that, really, looked at rationally, there were some positive aspects to the way his jeans fit, but Kaoru ruthlessly stomped on them and told them to go back to wherever they'd come from and leave her to focus on annoyance and poetry.

This situation desparately called for caffeine, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Curled up in a comfortable, over-sized chair in the corner of the coffeeshop, Kaoru sipped her over-sized latte machiatto with amaretto syrup and prepared to ignore the rest of the world.

'_Dear, you should not stay so late/ Twilight is not good for maidens; should not loiter in the glen /In the haunts of goblin men...'_

Kaoru's reading was interrupted by a bright, cheerful voice calling her name, and someone perching on the seat next to her.

"Kaoru! There you are! You're usually in the library, but now you're here! Ooo, double-chocolate chip!"

"Umm... Misao? Did they let you have espresso again?"

"Huh?" Misao said, turning her blue-green eyes to blink at her friend as she broke off a large piece of one of the cookies Kaoru had gotten. "No. Well, maybe one. And, um, some of those chocolate-covered coffee beans."

"Ah," Kaoru said. There really wasn't anything else to say; the damage had clearly already been done. Now the only thing to do was to not make any sudden moves. And possibly get a jump start on her math homework.

-

When she got back to the house, Kaoru parked her bike next to the garage and followed the sounds of clacking shinai into the training hall. The dojo had been in her father's family since they'd arrived from Japan, and as Kaoru entered the older part of the complex, she felt the familiar sense of peace, the knowledge of her family's history in this place.

Her father was just finishing up a class of beginning students, so Kaoru took the time to get into her own practice clothing.

She always enjoyed her sparring practice, and today it was just what she needed to calm herself down, focus, and work off some of her stress.

"Hey, ugly, thought you'd still be at the library!" a voice from behind her rang out.

A slow grin crossed Kaoru's face. Speaking of ways to relieve stress...

"Well, Yahiko, I figured I could come home early to spar with my very own little brother the week before his first big tournament..."

A slightly panicked expression crossed the boy's face as he realized that he'd just set himself up for target practice, Karou Kamiya-style.

As their father came into the room, Kaoru turned to him and said sweetly, "Oh, Dad? Yahiko and I were just going to spar a couple of rounds before dinner, is that ok?"

"Of course!" he replied with a grin. The fact that both of his children had taken to kendo, and showed continuing interest in it, was a great source of pride to their father, and, while he would never pressure them to compete, he was really hoping that Yahiko would make as good a showing as Kaoru had at her first tournaments.

In addition, he was a firm believer in letting siblings work out their stresses and differences on the dojo floor, on the grounds that it would strengthen the bonds between them outside the hall and serve them well later in life. The fact that it was occasionally vastly entertaining to watch was merely a nice side bonus.

"Before you two get started, what do you want on the pizza?" he asked as he headed out of the dojo.

"Pepperoni and green peppers!"

"Sausage, ham, pepperoni, extra cheese, and sausage!"

"You said "sausage" twice, brat!"

"Yeah, well, green peppers are gross!"

"At least I'm getting some vegetables in my diet, unlike some people, who are going to find themselves too heavy to roll their way to the match on Saturday!"

"Ugly!"

"Brat!"

Koshijiro Kamiya shook his head, laughing silently, as he headed into the main part of the house to order the usual for that night's dinner and, at least for Yahiko, tomorrow's breakfast as well.

* * *

Author's Note: Blamed on caffeine, and dedicated to Rach, Ravyn, and Joanna (Or possibly vice versa...). 

In this chapter I don't own: "Hooray for Hollywood," Christina Rosetti's "Goblin Market," or any of the works of Dante, Shakespeare, Right Said Fred or William Blake.


	2. Fearful Symmetry

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

* * *

"KYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" 

The scream that rent the morning stillness of the Kamiya household was an acknowledged part of the daily routine, as inevitable and expected as the sun rising in the east, or Kaoru's unfortunate tendency to hit the "Snooze" button on her alarm clock a little too frequently. As usual, it was followed almost immediately by a series of noises that could only be produced by a teenage girl's frantic struggle to go from asleep to fully dressed in 10.0 seconds.

'_Shoe...shoe... ok, come on, you stupid thing, I know that you're here somewhere... HA! I'll show you! I'll wear these instead! I refuse to be defeated by recalcitrant footwear!... Of course, wearing these instead means that I have to find socks, now, doesn't it?.. Hmm...'_

Dashing out into the hallway, black braid swinging behind her, Kaoru yelled out, "DAD! Have you seen...oops!"

Her urgent question came to an abrupt stop as Kaoru tripped over the laundry basket, and found herself sprawled in the hallway, her fall cushioned by the now completely disorganzed contents of the basket.

On the plus side, she now had a clean pair of reasonably matching socks.

Deftly dodging Yahiko as he stumbled out of the bathroom, Kaoru dashed in to finish off her morning preparations. She refused to bother with make-up on general principal, but she was nigh-religious about wearing moisturizer and sunscreen, and she brushed her hair out thoroughly before putting it up into her trademark ponytail.

By the time she got downstairs, Yahiko was happily munching on leftover pizza, having already packed up three slices for his lunch at school.

"Feet! Chair! Off! Now!" Kaoru commanded, matching her words with a smack against his ankles. Before her morning coffee, monosyllables were really all she could manage.

She was in such a rush that she barely had time to pour her coffee and burn the toast, but she managed. Luckily, the weather was sunny again, and a little bit warmer than it had been the day before.

Kaoru had long-since memorized the best short-cuts for getting to school on days when she was running later than normal, since she had no desire to get detention for being tardy. If she was lucky, she got there slightly before the buses, and just as the students who drove to school were pulling into the parking lot. Of course, that meant that she often had to dodge idiot teenage drivers.

As a matter of fact.. Kaoru's reverie was interrupted by just that, as a line of shiny, sleek cars pulled in, with no regard for possible pedestrians, senior citizens, animals, or cyclists. She swore and muttered under her breath as she hit the brakes, and glared fiercely at the offending vehicles before proceeding on to the bike stands.

As she was chaining up her bike, she could hear the chatter of the group coming in from the parking lot and considered shooting them a series of baleful looks, but decided that it would be about as useful as lecturing to a flock of magpies.

They sounded similar to birds, she thought, all meaningless bright chatter, in high, twittering voices, with one smooth baritone threading through the mix.

She wasn't even sure what Battousai was saying, but found herself trying to catch his words so that she could figure it out, then mentally rolled her eyes at being distracted by the tone of his voice.

'_He definitely sounds..more mature than the rest of them; I wonder why...Must have hit puberty awfully early...'_ The image of the composed red-head going through a period where his voice kept cracking at inopportune moments banished her earlier annoyance and made her almost giggle as she turned to head inside for another day of high school.

This time, Misao was waiting for her on her way to lunch, and even managed to look slightly contrite at having missed their study session yesterday. Since she'd brought brownies as part of her apology, Kaoru immediately pronounced her forgiven, and the two of them headed out to grab a table in the corner courtyard.

She thought that she caught a flash of amber eyes as she passed the popular table, but decided that she was going to ignore it.

Unfortunately, Misao's powers of perception had been heightened by years of experience and possibly also exposure to radioactive chemicals.

"Kaoru! Kaoru, did you _see_ that? He looked right at you!" Misao whispered fiercely, tugging at Kaoru's jacket in what was clearly supposed to be a subtle sign.

Refusing to be baited by either amber eyes or hyperactive friends, Kaoru sat down with her back firmly turned towards the popular table and hissed, "No, he most certainly _did not_; you are imagining things, probably due to either too little or too much caffeine."

"Well, if you say so, Kaoru..." Misao replied laconically "But I find it terribly interesting that you knew exactly which "he" you definitely did _not_ notice when he was _not _paying any attention to you..."

Kaoru managed to not choke on her milk. Barely. Finally getting herself back under control, she retorted, "That makes no grammatical sense, Misao. Either I didn't notice when he was paying attention, or I did notice that he wasn't." Kaoru wasn't actually sure that her version made sense either, but when in doubt, try confusion.

The other girl raised her eyebrow and shook her head, her braid waving slightly. "You're not helping your case here, Kaoru. Either way, one of you was definitely noticing. And that, my friend, is exactly why I..."

"No! No, no, no; I told you no yesterday, and I am telling you no today. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of putting it on a t-shirt."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Misao said with a slyness that Kaoru was used to only from her cousin.

Kaoru glared. "I am not protesting too much. There is nothing to protest, because _you_ are not going to do anything for me to protest about. If you're so impressed by that red-headed idiot's ridiculously high sex appeal, why don't _you_ go after him."

Oh, crap.

"Oh.. reaaaaallllyy..." Misao was practically purring. That was never good. " 'ridiculously high sex appeal,' Kaoru? I think somebody's been paying more attention than they've been admitting."

If the wall hadn't been three feet away, and on the other side of where her friend and tormenter was sitting, Kaoru would have beaten her head against it until she was unconscious. It would have been an improvement to the situation she was currently in.

Running through her mental list of possible blackmail material, Kaoru couldn't find anything that was damaging enough to head off a determined Misao. There was no help for it; she was going to have to beg.

"Misao. Please. Really, really, really, all kidding and joking aside. Please. Do not plan anything; do not try anything, do not say anything to anybody. Seriously."

"But.."

"Seriously."

Misao's pout was genuine, but she finally acquiesed. "Fine. I will not carry out any matchmaking plans between the two of you."

"You will not _make_ any matchmaking plans, Misao."

Rolling her eyes, Misao replied, "O, ye of little faith. I'm not going to do anything, you paranoid racoon. No matter how much I notice the two of you noticing each other when you don't think anybody is noticing."

"You are deranged to think that there is anything to notice. And thank you. I want to be able to finish high school without any major disasters taking place, ok? If it makes you feel better, you can take a raincheck on setting me up, for once we're done with school and out in the real world."

"Oh, sure, you say that now; just watch, you're going to meet the perfect guy right away in college and leave me with nothing to set up later. AND you'd do it on purpose; don't tell me that you wouldn't."

"Well, in that case, I transfer my setting-up rights to Yahiko."

Misao looked skeptical, but whether it was at the odds of Yahiko needing help finding a girl or the odds that even Misao would be able to help him, Kaoru wasn't sure.

When they went back inside. Kaoru walked on the other side of Misao from the popular table. Not, she told herself, because she was trying to avoid looking at.. anybody... just because it worked out that way.

"So, coffee later on?"

"Sure, Misao, just because the library has now apparently been turned into a field laboratory for practical anatomy..."

"Huh?"

Kaoru sighed. "Nothing. Never mind. Yes, coffee. When?"

"Hmm..." Misao said, and Kaoru got the feeling the petite girl was about to suggest that they make an immediate caffeine run, rather than heading to class. However, after squinching her eyes in thought, Misao finally said, "I've got drama club after school; why don't you swing by the auditorium afterwards and we'll head out from there?"

'_Misao in a place where she's learning how to be more dramatic... the world as we know it may be doomed...'_ Kaoru thought, but she said, "Ok.. I'll just try to find an uncontaminated section of the stacks until then."

Getting to English class on time was no problem; getting in the door, however, turned out to be more difficult than Kaoru had expected.

Sandra and Tiffany... or possibly Tiffany and Sandra... were talking with two boys who Kaoru identified by their varsity jackets and vacant expressions as jocks, and had decided that standing exactly _in_ the doorway was the ideal compromise between not being late and not really being present.

"So... it's gonna be tonight, then?"

"Oh, I know; this is gonna be SO cool..."

'_A: Run the gauntlet?B: Go outside and try to climb in through the window? C: Bludgeon them into unconsciousness with my backpack and hope that they notice?'_

"Alright, everybody; Sandra, Tiffany, take your seats..." Ms Simons said calmly.

'_or, the ever popular D, saved by the bell... Rats. I was hoping for 'C'...'_

After school, Kaoru headed to find someplace quiet to study until it was time to meet Misao. She wasn't happy about sitting in the front section of the library, where she could overhear the questions students asked the reference librarians, but at least she knew that nothing too stomach-turning was going to go on.

"So, you're writing a report about euthanasia?"

'Umm.. yeah, and I thought that I could try, like, comparing them to youth in other parts of the world..."

'_Except, of course, for the occasional sickening idiocy...'_

When Kaoru got to the auditorium, drama club was finishing up what appeared to be an improvisational scene involving a flashlight, a policeman's hat, two feather boas, and a rubber chicken.

She settled into one of the seats to wait, and worked a little bit on preparations for the Shakespeare test the next day.

"Hey Kaoru!" Misao bounced into place next to her, "Enjoy the show?"

Kaoru grinned as she gathered her things. "Two thumbs up! I especially enjoyed the boa-versus-chicken fight."

"We decided it was the rare feather boa constrictor."

"Yes, I got that part. Usual place for coffee?"

"Darn straight! I have a World History test on Friday, and I need all the caffeinated assistance I can get!"

"You don't honestly think we're going to _study_ at the cafe, do you?"

"Well.. no..."

And, giggling, the two girls went to get their bikes and head off in search of caffeine, chocolate, and other basic food groups.

Between Yahiko's breakfast, Yahiko's lunch, and Yahiko's afternoon snack, the previous night's pizza had disappeared, and Kaoru found herself the evening's designated cook, since her father was teaching class until later that evening, and Yahiko was participating in said class. It was going to be a late dinner as it was, and it made no sense to make everybody wait even later.

'_Hmm...'_ she thought, considering the contents of the cupboards, the refridgerator, and the dishes she had officially been banned from trying again.

'_Jackpot!'_ Kaoru sent up a mental thank-you to whichever culinary gods had seen fit to remind their father to buy several family-sized cans of ravioli. Granted, it wasn't fine dining, but it meant that all she had to do was pull frozen garlic bread out of the freezer, dump the ravioli in a casserole dish, not try to add anything except a sprinkling of Parmesan, and then bake everything at 350 degrees for forty-five minutes while she tossed together some lettuce with contents from one—and only one, she knew from experience—of the bottles of salad dressing in the fridge.

Since the salad was something she could prepare at the last minute.. by which she meant something she could bully Yahiko into doing when he came back in, Kaoru had a nice block of time to study for the Shakespeare test...

.. with the notes that were definitely, unavoidably, _not_ in her backpack.

'_Ok, ok, don't panic, don't panic...not in the backpack, not in another folder, not on the table, I'm sorry, Ms Simons, aliens abducted my Shakespeare notes on the way home from school; can I have a re-take on the mid-term...'_

Taking a deep breath, and trying to concentrate on re-tracing the activities of the day rather than listen to the panicked inner voice babbling about exams (tomorrow) and her grade (forty percent of), Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to picture where she had been the last time her notes had made an appearance.

'_English class? Well, that's obvious. Math class? They were safely in my backpack, happily making friends with my other folders. Gym class? Is my locker in bad enough shape to dissolve a full set of notes? No, don't think so... Library? Well, yes.. I was studying, and then I went to the auditorium and kept studying until Misao defeated the chicken and then I packed up and we... oh, crap.'_

Her notes were in the auditorium. At school. In fact, if she closed her eyes, she could picture her bright blue folder against seats that were some color that used to be burgundy with little grey flecks that she hoped were on purpose.

Kaoru looked at the kitchen clock. It was already starting to get dark out; she could see the moon rising over the trees across the street. If she hurried, she could get back to the school and find some nice janitor to let her into the building, and into the auditorium, and be back here in time for dinner.

Looking at the oven, she raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips in thought. She knew how long it took to get to school and back; she could figure on another ten to twenty minutes to get in, get her notes, and get out, but...

'_With my luck, it will take me forever to attract somebody's attention. And then I could come home and find that I'd accidentally burned the building down with some crazy cooking experiment gone wrong... fire bad; tree pretty... better play it safe...'_

Turning the oven down to 200, Kaoru sighed. Not ideal, but it would work. She could always just turn the temperature way up when she got home in order to make sure the food was ready on time.

'_Oh, sure, Misao; I'll wait and take Driver's Ed with you, it's only a couple of months...' What was I thinking? Well, I wasn't thinking about note-related emergencies, that's for sure...stupid have-to-have-a-licensed-adult-in-the-car learner's permit regulations...'_ Kaoru mentally grumbled to herself as she got her bike out of the garage again.

Putting on her helmet and making sure the headlight worked, she headed back to school. Since it was dark, she stuck to the main route, where the roads were broader and the streetlights were better.

As she made the turn into the school parking lot, she noted with surprise that there was already a group of cars there, some of which she recognized as belonging to football players. It had become something of a fad for them to get one of the school colors when their parents bought them their first car. She hadn't thought that any practices ran this late at night... although, since the zippy little Mazda Tiffany Burgess drove was also there, it looked like it wasn't just football jocks.

'_Oh... probably prom committee. Or pep committee. Or the committee for a peppier prom. Good thing I don't need to go to the gym area...'_

Fortunately, the meeting meant that Kaoru eventually found an open front door. She could hear music off in the distance.. odd-sounding music for the janitors to work by, but even odder as a possible prom choice, so she assumed it must be work. It had a kind of work-chant rhythm to it, she supposed, words rising and falling, too far for her to make anything out.

'_Hmm... try the auditorium doors first, or try to hunt down an unsuspecting janitor? Really don't feel like running around all over the building looking for somebody... maybe if I'm very lucky, there will be somebody near the auditorium in the first place...'_

In fact, as she headed down the hallway, the music seemed to be coming from the direction of the auditorium anyway, so it seemed like a good choice for various reasons.

Although now the building seemed to be quiet again, so who knew.

Kaoru grinned as she noticed that one of the auditorium doors was propped open, and hurried into the room.

'_That's a relief.. no need to bother anybody, just dash in, grab my notes, and dash.. back...'_

She blinked.

'_Well, I can see not wanting to do it while the students are here, but isn't night an odd time to paint the floor... that... color...'_

Then her brain caught up with what her eyes were trying to tell her.

The lights were on in the front of the room, illuminating the area before the stage. The floor was liberally smeared with a red that put the velvet curtains to shame, although she could see that the bottoms of the curtains were also liberally spotted.

Well, the parts of the floor that she could still see were smeared with red.

The rest... she suddenly realized that the dark heaps were crumpled forms, in the middle of where the red was thickest, and spreading slowly.

She was sure that she could make out a varsity letter jacket somewhere near the middle of the floor.

At least she could see the arm. Although it didn't seem to be attached to the rest of the jacket anymore...

Her breathing grew short as her nose registered the heavy, coppery scent flooding the auditorium.

'_What...what... '_ Kaoru's mind didn't seem to want to get past "What?" because then it would have to move on to things like "How?" and "Who?" and she really didn't think that examining those issues too closely would be a good idea

Then a sudden noise from the stage caught her attention, and she froze like a deer in headlights as several scrambling, fleeing figures broke through the curtains, one of them stumbling and falling at the edge of the stage to lie in a moaning heap, the others scattering to the stairs on either side or leaping down in the center, slipping and skidding on the blood-soaked floor.

And behind them...

Red hair, pulled high on his head, a sword that dripped onto the edge of the stage, its wicked edge catching the light, and eyes that _glowed_ somehow with amber fire as he reached the edge of the stage and gave a smile that was possibly the cruelest expression she had ever seen.

She couldn't tell if the fangs she thought she saw were real or imaginary, but that hardly mattered.

Part of her brain registered that he had reached the figure at the edge of the stage, that the moaning had stopped, and that there was now scarlet dripping down the front of the stage in several slow rivulets as he continued, jumping down unconcernedly and landing with completely sure feet in the middle of the expanding pool.

'_Well... that explains his nickname, doesn't it...'_ she thought, somewhat dazed, as Battousai lept and spun so quickly all she could register was a flash of red, a glint of silver, and then another splash of crimson against the auditorium wall and floor.

The ones who were left were clearly looking for a way out, but even Kaoru could tell that they weren't going to make it. They were never going to make it.

She wondered absently if they knew that, or if they were too panicked to realize that they were being taunted., that he was deliberately moving slower than he could, circling around them, his sword flashing in the light as he swung it sharply to send blood flicking across the front row of seats.

There was still a long line of blood running down one hand, and Kaoru felt something twist in her stomach as he brought it up to his mouth and ran his tongue over it to clean it.

The expression in his eyes was a very bad thing to see.

She was sure she hadn't made a sound; she would have sworn to it; she could have sworn even her heart had gone still, but Battousai suddenly cocked his head and turned from where he had been standing...

And looked straight at her with eyes that shimmered and glowed in the faint light.

* * *

Author's Note: Bwa ha ha! 

In this chapter I don't own: The original movie version of "Frankenstein," or that time that Joss Whedon quoted it in the "Graduation, Part II" episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."


	3. Desperate Times

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter Three: Desperate Times

* * *

Kaoru backed out of the auditorium, away from those golden eyes, that flashing sword, away from...

As she reached the doorway, her foot slipped slightly in a puddle of something she didn't even want to think about, and then she spun and was running down the hall faster than she'd thought possible.

And behind her, faintly, she was almost she could hear a steady, even tread, the walk of one who felt no need to hurry because he knew his prey couldn't escape...

'_Weapon, weapon... there must be something here that I can... recent statistics indicate that at least one of these lockers should have a gun, but I have no idea which, so that's no help... auto shop classroom.. tire iron? Kind of like a bokken, a little; heavier, but I could... no, I'm not fast enough, and somehow I don't think that bludgeoning is going to work in this case, I need something that can cut...'_

The sudden flashback to something that could cut very well indeed disoriented her and she had to fight down the urge to collapse or throw up.

'_Come on; flee now, panic later... You know he's chasing you...or at least he will be once he's finished.. playing... '_ Kaoru held back a shudder. True, she was certain that most of the occupants of the auditorium had already been dead.. well, she was mostly sure...

'_Alright, what are my options... _

_Option one: Get out of school, get back on bike, pedal for home as if, well, a demon were after me... Pros: with current adrenaline level, could doubtless reach home and barricade self in in record time. Cons: Even assuming crazed sword-wielding maniac doesn't just hop into one of the cars they all drove here in and catch me en route, would result in leading him straight home and being too exhausted to fight after frantic ride. _

_Option two: Steal one of the cars from parking lot. Pros: faster than biking, could just drive the heck out of town for awhile and get away from all of this... Cons: No confidence in ability to find spare keys, hotwire car, or drive stick shift, and would again possibly be leading crazed swordsman straight to Kamiya family household. Which he could presumably find by looking in the phone book under "K," if he even knows my name, which he... FOCUS!_

_Option Three: When faced with stronger, faster, and definitely scarier opponent.. control the situation; redirect his energy so that his attack is turned back on him... He thinks he's going to stalk and catch me, that I'll be easy to trap... well... let's see what we can do with that assumption, now, shall we?"_

As she reached the hallway where the Home Ec classes were located, she paused momentarily and then ran to the middle classroom. Trying to maintain a balance between frantic speed and a desparate need to be quiet, she rumaged through the drawers until she found what she was looking for.

The knife was the longest blade that the classroom had, and she knew from experience that it was kept surprsingly well-sharpened.

Moving swiftly to the teacher's desk, she pulled out a roll of masking tape and bound the handle of the knife to her wrist, so that the bottom of the blade was even with her palm and she could hide it, while still being able to use it if she bent her hand back and out of the way.

'_This is going to hurt like hell to remove, but that will mean Im alive, which is good, right? Of course right...'_

She swung her arm briefly, testing it, and then nodded to herself. For once, she was glad that Megumi's jacket was several sizes too large; it meant that she could pull the sleeves down over her wrists and conceal them.

Moving quickly to the cleaning supplies closet in the back of the room, Kaoru went in and perched herself somewhat precariously on a bucket.

'_If I fall into this stupid bucket... well, I suppose having him laugh himself to death would work too...'_

Then there was nothing but a long silence, during which Kaoru held very still and tried to think helpless thoughts.

'_Right... no danger here; helpless little mouse, all trapped and terrified, la la la... '_

Even in her hyper-alert state, it was a shock when the door opened and she was dragged out of the closet and pushed against the wall in one swift, inhumanly fluid motion.

"Well, well, little bird... I was wondering where you'd flown off to..."

His voice was low, amused, utterly confident. This close to him, she could smell blood and sweat and something wild, something that she couldn't quite put a name to.

She concentrated very intently on his shirt as he leaned in, his breath ghosting over her neck and hair.

The shock of it made her exhale sharply, and she barely kept herself from looking up to stare at him.

'_Please, please tell me that there is not a demon sniffing my neck...'_

Battousai seemed not to be in any hurry, his hands clasping her shoulders, one leg braced between hers, as he continued to lean in over her.

"Look at me, little bird... let me see those beautiful eyes..." It was half croon, half command, and it made her want to kick him in the shins.

'_Damn.. he's got his legs blocking me so that I can't just knee him in the groin... And since when does he know what my eyes look like, anyway, stupid, egotistical, popular...eep!'_

Her irate musings were cut short by the feeling of fingers running through her hair, gently tugging at the ribbon so that it fluttered down to the floor.

Kaoru bit her lip to stifle a gasp, and then gasped in earnest as her nervous gesture resulted in a thumb sliding briefly over her lower lip. The contact startled her into looking up...

... straight into amber eyes which held a mix of emotions she couldn't begin to deciper...

She could see her own reflection in them, frozen in amber depths, looking pale and startled, her hair tumbling wildly.

And then he smiled, a lazy, wicked smirk that seemed to show far too many teeth for her to be comfortable with, and moved his hand up to caress her cheek.

Without giving herself time to think, Kaoru brought up the hand that held the knife and stabbed, directly into his chest.

He made a surprised sound and staggered away from her, and she followed up with a blind slashing movement towards his throat, desparately trying to ignore the blood spattering across her clothes and face, the horrible choking and gasping noises she could hear him making as he began to collapse in front of her.

Her third swing caught him across the face, leaving a bright line of blood across his cheek, bisecting the scar that had made everybody so curious.

And then he lay on the floor, face down, completely still, and Kaoru stood there, panting and covered in blood.

She wasn't sure how long it was when a steady dripping noise brought her back to reality.

Looking down, she realized that it was the knife, dripping blood onto the floor in a steady monotone.

The masking tape was a blood-soaked mess, and the sleeve of her jacket wasn't much better. In fact, the entire jacket was splashed and splattered with blood...

'_Megumi's going to be unhappy... this used to be one of her favorite jackets..'_ Kaoru thought, her mind refusing to focus on the collapsed, bloody form sprawled across the tiles, or the reasons why the jacket was ruined.

She removed the jacket almost automatically, and pulled the bloody tape from her wrist with a swift, jerking movement.

'_Ouch, dammit.. I KNEW that that was going to hurt..._

_... but that means I'm alive... and that's a good thing, right?'_

To be honest, Kaoru wasn't entirely certain she could answer that question...

Numbly, she took the knife over to the sink, washed it thoroughly, and went to put it back into the drawer.

'_Cleanliness is next to. .. to... something important...starts with a 'g'... can't even remember a simple proverb, they're going to kick me out of the nerd's society...'_

She suddenly realized that she was staring at the shining surface of the blade as it reflected her own bone-white face back at her, and blinked.

There was something that she was forgetting... something to do with shininess, and sharpness, and...

"Swords!" Kaoru yelled, and then jumped at the sound of her own voice.

'_Stupid, stupid; so focused on cleaning the stupid knife that you forgot all about... come on, Kamiya; you've seen enough scary ghost stories to know all about possessed demon swords and things that go slash in the night...'_

She had to find that sword, and make sure that she took it home and put it in the safest, shriniest place that she could find. And then she was going to get her crazy grandfather to paste so many anti-demon charms on it that it would look like somebody was protecting a year's worth of the New York Times.

'_Now, if I'm very, very, VERY lucky.. ah, crap...'_ Kaoru gritted her teeth. Of course the logical place for a demon's sword would be with the demon. _'What, you were hoping it fell off while he was casually strolling after you in hot pursuit?'_

Forcing herself not to think too much about what she was doing, Kaoru pulled the sword and sheath from Battousai's belt, then lept back and screeched when her actions caused his body to move slightly.

'_Eww.eww..ewww...'_

Her hands clenched tightly around the sword hilt. _'Please don't be possessed, please don't be possessed, please don't be possessed...'_

Relaxing slightly when she didn't start hearing voices in her head or feel an irresistable pull to draw the sword and start waving it around or making proclamations, Kaoru tried to think if there was anything else she should do.

Looking at the still form on the floor, and thinking back to the mess in the auditorium, Kaoru wondered what the police would think...

And then she bit her lip, her mind working furiously.

'_The sword isn't possessed, but that doesn't mean _

Remembering those late-night movies, and all the scary stories she'd heard around the campfire, Kaoru suddenly realized that she could think of only one way—one SURE way—to make certain that the town didn't end up, say, overrun with pesky mutant carnivore zombies.

She had to burn down the school.

'_Well, this is definitely not what I planned on doing with my time when I got up this morning.. Let's see.. if I were something flammable, where would I be...'_

Between the photo development lab and the auto shop classroom, Kaoru managed to get enough chemicals to do truly nasty things to the papers in the home ec classroom wastebaskets and the seats in the auditorum.

'_On any other day, the fact that I'm apparently a closet pyromaniac would be kind of disturbing...'_ she thought as she prepared to light the match.

By the time she had figured out a way to carry the sword while riding her bike, there were flames shooting out of the windows, and she could just catch the faint wails of sirens in the distance.

Good thing that she knew several shortcuts.

* * *

Author's Note: Kaoru really doesn't do the damsel in distress thing, does she...

In this chapter I don't own: The song "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," from "Fiddler on the Roof," and, of course, Kagome Higurashi's grandfather, who I am kind of borrowing for charm-related purposes.


	4. Moving Day

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter 4: Moving Day

* * *

Kaoru looked around the small apartment with a sense of pride.

After years of living in horrible dormitory housing, and dealing with cafeteria food, she was finally on her own.

Although, she had to admit that she would miss the cafeteria food.

Yahiko was struggling up the stairs, trying to carry four boxes at once and clearly two seconds away from not carrying any of them.

"Don't hurt the chocolate!" Kaoru yelled, sprinting to catch the top box as it started a slow slide downwards. She loved her brother, but occasionally he had no clue about what was important in life.

"Sheesh, ugly, keep your shorts on..." the teen muttered under his breath.

Things probably would have degenerated from there, boxes or no, if it hadn't been for the cheerful voice yelling up the stairs.

"Hey, missy! Hey, brat—you up there?"

"Up here, Sano!" Kaoru yelled cheerfully.

Sano had apparently picked up a load of boxes from the moving truck before heading upstairs, and he deposited them, following Kaoru's directions, before giving her a bear hug.

"Can't believe you finally got your own place! Once we get all this moved in, I say we go out for dinner and celebrate!"

Kaoru raised one eyebrow and said, "And I suppose that, since you're so kindly helping out, I should so kindly pay for dinner?"

Sano shrugged. "Well, it would be the polite thing to do..."

Drat, he had a point. Now how to get out of this situation with her wallet reasonably intact?

"Once we're done, we'll order a bunch of pizzas, and I'll hook up the TV and DVD player, ok?"

Happy that there was going to be food, Sano said, "Deal, Missy! Now, what else needs to come up?"

"Um...well, we need to unload the truck, Sano... By the way, didn't Megumi come with you?"

"The Fox is downstairs by the truck.. said something about being better at supervising than lifting..."

Kaoru grinned. "Well, when you're down there, tell her to come on up and supervise things up here for a bit!"

"Yeah, but then how's she gonna admire my muscles when she's up here instead of down by the truck?" Sano winked. "Will do, Missy; no worries. By the way, I invited another friend to help out—well, he volunteered when I told him I was helping you move. He wasn't sure when he'd get here, but he said he'd make it when he could."

"Great! The more people I can cajole, beg, or bribe into hauling boxes and furniture, the better! And, speaking of hauling boxes, what are you doing just standing around shaking your feathers, Rooster-Boy? Get going!"

She shook her head and laughed at his expression as he went down the stairs, then went back to unpacking books and putting them on her shelves.

'_Dictionaries... English literature... American literature...Biology... Cookbooks... Cookbooks? Huh...'_ Clearly another "subtle" attempt by Misao to give Kaoru more self-confidence in the kitchen.

She doubted this one would have any more success than the last twenty.

Sighing, Kaoru emptied the box and went down to help carry things up the stairs. With luck, they could get everything unloaded and the van returned and still have time to set up her bed and the futon couch before ordering the pizza.

Sano and Yahiko were engaged in heated debate about the best way to man-handle the couch up the stairs, with Megumi serving as referee and occasional consultant.

"Look, we need to take it apart first, it won't fit around the stair corner!"

"And I'm saying that if one of us goes up to the balcony, we can lift it up the outside of the building and in through the window!"

"Listen, feathers-for-brains, the only thing that's going to happen if we try to lift it up the outside of the building is that the couch is going to smash to the ground, and then Kaoru's gonna hurl us out a window!"

"Gentlemen!" Megumi said, loudly enough to halt the other two mid-brawl. "I think that the options are clear: either we take the couch apart now, or we call Katsu, or wait for Kenshin to show up and all of you together can figure out a way to manhandle it up over the balcony. Kaoru, what do you think?"

"Well... Sano, when did your friend—Kenshin, right?—when did he say that he was planning on showing up?"

"I'm here!" said a voice from somewhere behind Kaoru.

There was something about it that was very familiar, something that touched a chord in her memory that her brain was fairly sure it didn't want to go anywhere near...

"Kenshin!" Sano called out cheerfully, "Glad you could make it so soon, man! We're trying to get this couch lifted up to the third floor—care to give us a hand?"

"Well, I knew that this was important... Hmm.. Sano? I think that the best bet is to take the couch apart and carry it up piece by piece... that's a very solid frame and we don't want anything to happen to it."

Her brain's efforts not to connect that voice to anything were reaching a fever pitch as Sano said, "Hey! Kenshin, here you are hauling furniture and everything, and you haven't even met the lovely lady who's gonna be the one providing the food and beer afterwards! Kenshin, Kaoru; Kaoru, Kenshin..."

She was sure she hadn't turned around, but suddenly her lovely view of the ground was disrupted by a pair of dark brown leather boots and a pair of black jeans...

Kaoru looked up to see bright red hair that threatened to escape from a low ponytail, violet blue eyes with slight hints of amber sparks in their depths, a broad and guileless smile, and a face whose left cheek was marked with a pair of scars, crossing each other...

And fainted dead away.

* * *

Author's Note: Just when you think you've gotten rid of that pesky demon problem...

In this chapter I don't own: Hmm.. not really quoting anything in this chapter. Probably because it's too short.


	5. Mostly is a Lot Different from All

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter 5: "Mostly" is a lot different from "All"

* * *

'_I was having the strangest dream...'_ Kaoru thought as she slowly swam back to consciousness out of the thick blackness that had engulfed her. _'And Yahiko was there, and Megumi, and Sano needed a new brain, and... and...'_ Thought stopped for a minute as she remembered.

Red hair.

Red hair and scars.

Parts of her brain were fervently arguing that they, personally, would be much happier to just go back into that nice darkness where they didn't have to think about red hair and the way that blood had dripped through her nightmares for months, _years_, after that night, the way that he'd looked, hair spread out like a crimson halo, the smell of blood and the way her shoes had _squished_ all the way down the hall and out to her bike...

"Hey, I think she's awake! Kaoru.. Kaoru, can you hear me?"

Overriding her brain's disgruntled mutterings, Kaoru blinked her eyes open and found herself looking into Yahiko's concerned face.

The random thought that her brother must be really concerned if he was actually bothering to use her name floated disconnectedly through her brain as she sat up on what she realized was her now fully-assembled couch.

"Huh.. how'd you guys get the couch up here?" she asked, groggily.

"Sano and Yahiko took it apart and and carried it up the stairs, of course," Megumi said from the kitchen, where she was putting the finishing touches on a tray with a mug of tea and some shortbread cookies that Kaoru was fairly certain hadn't been in her things when she'd packed them. "Leave it to you to focus on inconsequential details. Didn't I _tell_ you to be sure to eat a good breakfast _and_ a decent lunch today? And _don't _get me started on the importance of proper hydration!"

"Really; please, don't get her started," Sano implored fervently from where he was trying to assemble her stereo system.

'_Oh.. right..of course.. that's all it was, Kaoru; lack of water, and trying to count half a cheese sandwich as lunch. Fainting and hallucinations. Or... hallucinations, then fainting. Nothing to worry...'_

"Sano, where did you say these books went again?" a horribly familiar voice said from the general direction of Kaoru's bedroom.

'_Oh no..._'

"Hang on, Kenshin; the shelves for those are still in the truck!"

'_No, it's not possible...'_

"Ah.. well, I'll just go get them and bring them up; we really need to get the rest of the furniture up here before we do anything... hey! You're awake! Welcome back to the land of the living!" His expression was cheerful and friendly, and somehow conveyed the impression that she must have been mistaken when she thought she saw a momentary hint of a wicked smirk before he settled on a slightly aimless grin.

'_Please, please tell me that a demon was not just in my bedroom...'_

"Kaoru! Are you ok? You've gone all green again.. hey, Megumi, what's keeping that tea?"

Kaoru's shocked, uncomprehending stare was interrupted by the bustle as Megumi efficiently forced the mug into her hands, instructed her to eat some of the shortbread, wrapped her in a blanket Kaoru was fairly certain was part of the furniture padding, and hustled the three males back down to the truck to continue unloading.

She really wasn't paying that much attention to the taste of the tea, or the cookies, or the various boxes being carried into her new apartment as she lay on the couch. Her brain was having a heated internal discussion about the impossibility of what—of _who_—she'd just been introduced to, by Sano, who had claimed that Kenshin was an old friend, a really great guy, someone he'd known forever; and of course, that made more sense, there had to be some other logical explanation for why she was suddenly face-to-face with someone she'd... well, killed, before making sure that both he and his victims were very thoroughly cremated.

'Kaoru? Where do you want this chair?"

"Um.. over by the window, thank you.." Kaoru said automatically as she turned and looked straight into a pair of violet blue eyes...

He grinned at her and bowed. An impressive feat, considering that he was carrying a rocking chair.

Megumi, noticing Kaoru's expression, went back into hover mode and immediately started looking after her patient.

"Kaoru! How are you feeling? Did you drink all of the tea? Here, have another cookie.. aren't they delicious? Kenshin brought them; he made them himself..."

"K—Kenshin made the cookies?" Kaoru said blankly.

"Well, baking's kind of a hobby of mine," Kenshin said as he positioned the chair so that Kaoru could curl up and enjoy the view outside of her window. "I've always enjoyed it... back in high school, I used to hang out in the Home Ec room for hours, even when school wasn't in session."

"Ah," Kaoru said, weakly, wondering how much more tightly her hand could grasp the handle of her mug before she either broke it or threw the tea across the room.

Megumi ordered her to spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch, relenting only when Kaoru regained enough spirit to glare at her and ask if Megumi really expected her to let "those other idiots" unpack her dishes and other fragile things.

Meanwhile, said idiots, and Kenshin, who Kaoru was trying very hard not to think about for fear her brain would run away screaming (closely followed by the rest of her), finished carrying the rest of the boxes and furniture up into the apartment and were then given a series of brusque orders by Megumi that had Sano assembling, Yahiko unpacking non-breakables, and Kenshin cleaning.

Pausing in the middle of unpacking the utensils, Kaoru was debating whether to rinse off a set of plates to use with the pizza or just go with the standard paper towels when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Do you have any Windex?" His voice was so close that she could feel his breath ghosting across her skin, but when she spun, startled, he was several feet away, to all intents inspecting the box labelled Cleaning Supplies.

"Ah..uh.. there should be some Method window cleaner in there.. it.. it's blue. In a spray bottle. Which is clear."

"Uh-huh.. got it! Thanks.. paper towels?"

Mutely, Kaoru handed him the roll of towels she had set up near the sink. His long fingers brushed against hers briefly, but were gone before she could do more than register the sensation.

"Wish me luck; I'm off to tackle the living room windows!" Kenshin said cheerfully. "Oh.. and Kaoru?"

"Huh?" All things considered, Kaoru felt proud that she'd managed to get out that much of a coherent response.

"Be careful when you unpack those knives; those things can be really dangerous..."

And with that remark, Kenshin headed back into the living room.

As he left, he smiled to himself. He could practically feel the emotions radiating off of the slim girl in the kitchen, and he was half-expecting one of the kitchen knives to come flying past his ear on his way through the living room doorway.

_He had just been finishing up when he had felt her presence at the door of the auditorium, that bright flicker of energy that he had absent-mindedly noticed on more than one occasion in school._

_He had known who it was without even having to turn around, and he knew that there was no way for her to escape that he couldn't follow, so he really didn't see any need to prevent her leaving._

_Besides which, he wasn't quite done... and he hated to leave a task half-finished..._

_After re-sheathing his sword, he had headed out into the hall, half-expecting the girl to be in a sobbing, hysterical heap in a corner, or being violently ill in the bathroom. He was surprised to find nothing but an empty hallway, no trace of her anywhere._

_Could she have run back outside? He tried to remember if she had a car or not, and came up with a memory of her locking her bike up in the morning, hair catching the light and blue eyes sparkling as she turned to respond to something somebody said to her._

_She had startlingly lovely eyes, he recalled... _

_Catching a faint hint of her presence, almost something lingering in the air, he headed down the hallway, smirking to himself._

_He did enjoy it when they tried to run..._

_As he went further along the hallway, he found that she had covered an impressive amount of distance. Even assuming that she was flying in blind panic, she was doing better than many others he could remember._

_As he turned down the corridor that led to the home economics classrooms, he could catch the faint scent of her, jasmine and something else that he remembered noticing when she'd run into him in the hallway._

_He grinned as he remembered how she'd looked at him, glaring, her eyes practically flashing sparks as she growled at him to get out of her way before she continued down the hall, clearly unaware of the way her rapid, annoyed gait did things to her hips that had him staring after her appreciatively._

_At the time, he'd been interrupted by another pair of vapid, suicide-blonde cheerleaders, who had had to speak with him about who knows what, and he hadn't exactly been able to ask them about the girl, but he had definitely remembered..._

_Opening the door to the classroom, he gave a cheerful, anticipatory smirk._

_He was looking forward to getting to know this little bird better..._

"Sanosuke! Get that down from there this instant!"

"Oh, come on, Missy—it's perfect! Look, you have the big speakers in the back, and then I put these up on the wall, and, presto! Surround sound! It'll be great!"

"I am not having speakers bolted to my walls, Sano. You want to perform wacky experiments with sound systems, do it in your own apartment."

Megumi paled slightly at that comment and said,"I don't think that Sano's rental agreement allows him to fasten things to the walls..." in a hopeful tone.

Kaoru's glaring session was interupted by Yahiko's bounding out of the bathroom and enthusiastically voted in favor of the speaker project, clearly envisioning long afternoons sprawled on his sister's couch watching kung fu movies at full volume.

Clearly envisioning the same thing, Kaoru's protests reached new limits of both volume and vocabulary, concluding with "... and if you think for one SECOND that you're going to bolt ANYTHING to the walls that Misao and I spent TWO WEEKS painting, you overgrown chicken, then you can take that wrench and shove it..."

"Now, now; I'm sure that there's a better way to arrange all of these speakers..." a calm voice spoke up. Kenshin stood in the kitchen doorway, leaning against it and looking perfectly comfortable.

Kaoru, who had by sheer force of will forgotten he was even in the apartment, managed not to shriek, jump, or throw anything. She was really quite proud of herself, all things considered.

Although on second thought, she could think of several things that she would have liked to throw, if she could only have figured out a way to accidentally pick them up.

Kenshin strode casually into the living room and continued, "What about putting two of them under the end tables, and the other two in the corners on either side of the TV? You don't have to attach them to anything, and Kaoru can move them anytime she wants."

Sano and Yahiko looked at each other and grinned identical, manic grins.

Kaoru groaned as both of them started trying to figure out the best way to arrange the speakers on the floor to ensure maximum lounging space and ear damage.

'_Stupid perfectly reasonable suggestions,'_ she thought grumpily.

Giving Megumi a sympathetic look, Kaoru went to go look for her DVD collection. It was getting to be time to order the pizza, and if she hurried, she could pick out a film and place the order before either Sano or Yahiko could contribute to the list of toppings. Sano's preference for anchovies had been the cause of some near-legendary fights in the past, and she really didn't want to risk the damage to her new apartment.

Holding the box of discs, Kaoru quietly snuck over to where Megumi was putting her collection of photographs on their proper shelves and said, "Hey..Megumi, why don't you pick a movie while I go order the pizza?"

The other girl glanced over to where Sano and Yahiko were engaged in a heated debate about acoustics and coffee tables, and gave a foxlike grin. "That sounds like a fabulous idea, Kaoru.. I don't know about you, but I feel in the mood for something.. epic. That speaker set-up is made for swelling romantic theme music, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely!" The two of them shared identical expressions, and Kaoru felt a brief—_very_ brief- moment of pity for the boys. The movie issue having been settled, she headed into the kitchen to take care of the dinner order.

'_Two extra-large peperoni and extra cheese; Italian sausage, onions, and green peppers; ignore Megumi's request for a salad on the grounds that she doesn't let herself eat enough fun junk food... chicken barbecue? Hmm... no, better go with mushrooms and ham. Three orders of cheese sticks, two bottles of Coke.. and a partridge in a pear tree...'_

This time, when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, Kaoru resolutely ignored it and went on with placing the order.

When she turned around, Kenshin was perched on one of the counters, calmly watching her as she glared at him and hung up the phone.

"Aren't you going to help with the massive sound project currently going on in my living room?" she asked "And get off my counter! Who knows when the last time was that those pants got washed?"

"What about me makes you think I don't do my laundry regularly?" he returned, smoothly dismounting to stand on the floor in front of her.

'_Rats... I knew I should have gotten the apartment with the larger kitchen...'_ Kaoru thought, but she said, "Thank you _so_ much for your _terribly_ helpful suggestion about the speakers; I think it's going to make the movie _so_ much more entertaining to watch." Her tone was several notches closer to simpering than normal, and she was strongly tempted to bat her eyelashes.

"Of course," she continued sweetly, "you do realize that Megumi's going to kill you? The only thing that's been preventing Sano from turning his entire living room into a wall of speakers has been the issue of boring holes in the wall, and now you've given him a way around it."

Kenshin was suddenly standing very, very close, even after she'd taken an instinctive half-step backwards, and Kaoru looked up, startled, into definitely amber eyes as he said, softly, "Oh... I'm not at all concerned about _Megumi_ trying to kill me..."

The moment of.. whatever it was... was instantly diffused by Sano's walking into the kitchen to announce that their grand speaker project had been completed and to drop broad hints that it had been hard work, deserving of beer.

"In the fridge. Unless you drank it all while hauling boxes. And, no, I did not order more beer with the pizza. If you want it, you'll have to get it yourself."

On anybody else, the expression would have been a pout. "You already ordered? What'dja get for toppings? And why didn't you order more beer?"

"Various toppings and because you're the only one who drinks it and I refuse to have extra beer just lurking in my fridge, calling your name and forcing you to come over and lounge on my couch."

'And listening to the fabulous suround sound that you've now got in your living room!" Sano declared as he headed to the fridge. "Hey, Kenshin, you want a beer?"

"No, that's ok... I'm fine," Kenshin replied, and Kaoru felt a brief shiver of something as she realized that his eyes were once again somewhere between indigo and violet.

'_How does he bloody do that?'_ she thought absently as she hunted down her pack of paper plates and a roll of paper towels.

As she brought the supplies into the living room, she faintly registered a, "Hey! Did you remember the anchovies?" but ignored it, as usual.

Megumi was amusing herself by loudly musing which of several Jane Austen movies would make the perfect ending to a long day of hauling and organizing while Yahiko sputtered and fidgeted and looked like he was going to jump out of his skin.

It was enough to make Kaoru wish that she had popcorn.

By the time the pizza had arrived, Kaoru had made an executive decision that they were going to watch "The Princess Bride," with the standard stipulation that if Sano showed any signs of trying to rhyme things, the movie would immediately be switched to either "An Affair to Remember" or anything with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

The pizza and Coke were set up on the coffee table, Yahiko took his customary position of sprawling on the floor, and Sano and Megumi took up part of the couch. Kaoru was trying to figure out a way to let Kenshin sit down first so that she could sit somewhere else, but was having trouble putting her plan into action because Kenshin was casually refusing to sit down.

'_Dammit.. what is this, some kind of wacky musical-chairs-in-reverse? Ok... if I sit on the couch, there will be enough room for him to sit next to me.. unless I can telepathically convince Sano to stretch out.. in which case there won't even be room for me on the couch. If I sit on the floor in front of the couch, he's either going to end up behind me or next to me, and Yahiko's head will be in my way during the movie.'_ Her eyes fell on the rocking chair that Kenshin had positioned earlier in the day and she barely restrained from a yell of triumph. _'Hah! Perfect! Hoisted by his own.. um.. hoisting of things!'_

Kaoru moved the chair over so that it was next to the couch— specifically next to that part of the couch where Sano and Megumi were already sitting, and proceeded to sit down, wrapping a blanket around herself for good measure. Then, realizing that the cocooning was going to interfere with the eating, she relinquished the blanket and proceeded to dive in to the joys of pizza, caffeinated beverages, true love, and great fight scenes.

However, she rapidly realized that she was paying almost no attention to the movie. Instead, her brain was finally taking the time to analyze the events of the day and try to come to grips with them in a way which did not involve screaming hysteria.

'_Somehow, I don't think jumping up and down and yelling, "Agh! Demon! Demon! Evil! Very, very bad!"_ _would be at all convincing...'_

So. Battousai had come back. Well, he was using a different name, and his eyes were doing funny color-change things, but it was definitely him. Except that it couldn't be him, because he was dead. And cremated.

'_See, if I'd only watched "Highlander" by the time I got to high school and picked up handy tips for disposing of pesky supernatural beings, this would probably not be an issue right now. This is what I get for focusing on Shakespeare and Dante and ignoring valuable pop culture knowledge...'_

'_What on earth could he want from me? Why did he show up and help move my furniture, rather than just dropping by one dark and stormy night and muttering threatening things through the door? What possessed him to make friends with ­Sano, of all people? And why is there now a demon sitting and eating pizza in my new living room, instead of, say, trying to kill us all in nasty ways? Not that I want him to try anything like that, but I don't understand what's going on, and it's starting to make me seriously cranky.'_

"Aw, man, look; isn't this an awesome scene?"

"Yeah, Yahiko—I know what you mean." Sano replied, then stopped as Megumi and Kaoru fixed him with simultaneous Glares of Death. He blinked, and then said, "No, no, no; that was an accident! I didn't mean it! Honestly!"

"Sanosuke Sagara, you have been warned. There will be no, I repeat, NO further warnings," Kaoru said sternly, and turned back to watch two non-left-handed men fight a clifftop duel.

There was something jumping up and down trying to get her attention, but she just couldn't quite put her finger on it...

"This is pretty good sword-fighting for Hollywood," Kenshin observed from his perch on the other end of the couch.

_Swordfighting..._

Yahiko, momentarily distracted from the movie, turned and asked eagerly, "You know something about swordfighting? That is so cool!"

_Master of Lethal... _

"Do you ever fence, or anything like that?"

_Swords..._

"Well... I used to, but it's been several years since I've had any opportunities to do... anything like _that_..."

'_Oh... hell...'_

Kenshin actually was enjoying watching the movie. Among other things. And, when he wasn't watching, he was remembering...

_The classroom had been dark, the only light from the moon—or more likely, the parking lights—shining in through the window._

_He didn't mind the darkness. He could still sense her presence, that steady, clear light, slightly dimmed with the effort she was making to keep quiet, to stay still._

_Making no noise at all, he strolled to the back of the room, to what seemed to be a small closet, and grinned to himself. It was a good attempt; really, it was. However, in the end, it hadn't helped. _

_It never did._

_Almost casually, he pulled open the door. She wasn't looking at the door. she was... sitting on a bucket? Well... that was.. different... although he personally thought it would have made more sense to flip the bucket over first..._

_Her arms were wrapped around her, the sleeves of her jacket pulled down over her hands, her long, dark hair falling forward into her face._

_He pulled her out between one breath and the next, pushed her up against a convenient wall and leaned in._

_He expected to smell fear, panic, sheer terror... all the usual emotions humans exhibited when they were in this kind of situation... _

_Instead, he smelled jasmine, and something else, sweet and clean, something that had him leaning in closer almost without thinking about it._

_He realized, suddenly, that he wanted to see if her eyes were as brilliant in the moonlight as they had been when they'd shone in the sun... _

"_Look at me, little bird... let me see those beautiful eyes..." _

_She wouldn't look at him. Not even a nervous glance upwards; just that steady gaze at his shirt. He still couldn't sense any fear in her, just a kind of tension, or waiting for something._

_Intriguing... _

_There were rules about this kind of situation. He knew that. In fact, he'd suggested some of them._

_On the other hand... sometimes rules were made to be ignored... _

_Giving in to an impulse he'd had since he'd seen her, he reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying the smoothness of it, the heavy, scented silk sliding through his fingers. It was almost automatic to reach up and pull the ribbon binding it loose with a simple flick of his fingers._

_Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders as the ribbon fluttered to the floor. She made a sound that wanted to be a gasp, but stopped it by biting down slightly on her lower lip._

_His attention drawn by the slight noise, he looked down, captivated by the way her teeth flashed briefly, pulling her lip slightly into her mouth before releasing it, the first gesture of nervousness he'd seen from her. He could still see the faint impression of her teeth, and moved his thumb over the almost invisible bite mark, feeling her warmth, the faint catch in her breath._

_Then she looked up at him, deep, clear blue eyes meeting his in surprise, looking huge and startled in the light coming in through the window._

_He'd been right, he thought; her eyes were just as startlingly lovely at night... and with the way her hair was tumbling down in a thick, dark mass, showing off the pale length of her neck and the faint flush in her cheeks..._

'_Oh yes...' he thought as he reached up to run his hand down the smoothness of her cheek, 'Some things are definitely worth breaking the rules...'_

_And then the sudden spark of determination in her eyes that he couldn't identify, until the shocking, stabbing pain in his chest and then his throat, the sensation of choking and drowning, and falling to the floor, feeling a third sting across his cheek, and seeing the mix of shock and trauma and determination etched on Kaoru's face as she stood there, holding a knife that dripped onto the floor he was collapsing towards..._

By the time they had gotten to the Fire Swamp, Kaoru found herself heartily wishing that a pack of R.O.U.S.s would ambush Kenshin on his way out to the parking lot.

He was being perfectly charming, and she hated it.

He thanked her for the pizza, gave Megumi his shortbread recipe during a brief break to bring out dessert, and let Sano finish off all of the beer.

The only one he hadn't charmed the socks off of so far was...

"Man, why doesn't he just fight all those guys? I mean, just pull his sword out and..."

"Come on, brat; if Westley killed Count Rugen, there wouldn't be anything left for Inigo.."

"Don't call me "brat," you overgrown rooster!" Looking around for an ally, Yahiko seized on the other man sitting on the couch, "Hey, Kenshin; you said you had experience, right? Wesley could have just whipped out his sword and beaten those guys, right?"

"Well, Yahiko, I have to agree with you; Westley could have killed all of the soldiers, but he's probably more interested in finding a way into the castle, or their headquarters, so that he can get Buttercup back."

"Oh! So, it's like a spy mission?"

"I guess you could call it something like that..."

Kaoru felt a growing sense of panic at the way her brother was happily chatting with the guy—_demon!_ she reminded herself—that one of her best friends had brought home.

'_Supernatural threats should come clearly labeled, with risks and side effects clearly marked on the package!'_ she thought crossly as she stood up and went to get something to drink. _'And what am I going to do about that sword? I can't call home now and ask them to... well, I'm not even sure what I could ask them to do if I called.. say, "Hi, there's this possibly cursed, definitely demonic sword under my bed, the thing that has those wacky charms from grandpa all over it, and could you please either bring it over here or throw it into the nearest lake, depending on.. well, let me just flip a coin, because I'm not really sure, and the demon who owns the sword has shown up and is sitting on my couch eating pizza and giving my little brother pointers on how to fight with swords.."?'_

'_But.. he doesn't have his sword right now... which means that he probably can't... and he said it's been several years since he'd had a chance to... well, anyway, if he thinks that he can coerce me into letting him have his sword back, into letting him have the chance to kill again... No way. Not going to happen.' _

When she came back in, Kenshin was still having a discussion with Yahiko, but the topic had shifted somewhat.

"No, no; see, he's only _mostly_ dead..."

"Really?" said Kenshin in a tone that Kaoru pegged as somewhere between interested and drawling.

She stood, frozen, as the redhead continued.

"Huh. So, he even though they.. killed him—and very thoroughly, I might add, really excellent work—he can still come back, and make sure that he takes care of everything he needs to?"

Yahiko nodded enthusiastically, almost sending another cookie flying across the room. "Yup! I mean, isn't that cool?"

Kenshin's voice was definitely full of undertones, shades of meaning that had Kaoru clenching her hands tightly on her glass, as he replied, "Oh, absolutely; that's just... fascinating. Don't you think that's _fascinating_, Kaoru? The difference between _mostly_ dead and _all_..."

If asked to swear to it in a court of law, Kaoru would have steadfastly maintained that her entire glass of Coke ended up all over Kenshin's shirt entirely of its own volition, possibly as a result of sunspots or alien telepathic activity.

Of course, that would have been a lie.

Fortunately, there were benefits to a life-long reputation as a bit of a klutz in everything except kendo. Avoiding dish duty at family reunions... being recruited to help god-awful Christmas and birthday presents have unfortunate accidents... and being able to look a demon straight in the eye and say, "Oh! Oh, I'm so _terribly_ sorry; I must have tripped," and have everybody in the room just roll their eyes and chalk it up to another instance of Kaoru versus gravity.

Well, everybody in the room except the demon in question, who looked down at his now-cola-soaked shirt, then back up at Kaoru with eyes that showed definite amber sparks, before saying, "Oh.. don't worry about it. Accidents happen. I'm just glad you didn't break your glass; somebody could have gotten hurt. But I think..."

His words were temporarily garbled as he proceeded, quite casually, to strip off his shirt.

Kaoru blinked. Then she blinked again. And then she told the part of her brain that was trying to convince her that staring at Kenshin's very toned chest and abs was a really good way to secretly check for the scars she must have given him to go take a cold mental shower.

Kenshin, completely unconcerned that he was standing in her living room without a shirt on, gave her a grin and said, "I think it's probably unhealthy to sit around in damp clothing.. and I should rinse this out before it dries. Kaoru, if you have a spare sweatshirt, I'd really appreciate it.."

As he headed into the kitchen to rinse the shirt, Kaoru glared at his retreating form. And once again found it necessary to chant under her breath, "Mental cold shower, mental cold shower..."

Rumaging through the boxes of winter clothes she'd stuck in the spare closet, she finally found the perfect sweatshirt for Kenshin to spend the rest of the evening in.

It had been a present from her grandfather, who she strongly suspected was color-blind. It was overly large and very comfortable, and she sometimes wore it when she spent the weekend lounging rather than working.

It was also pink. Very, very pink.

When Kenshin came back into the living room, Kaoru handed him the sweatshirt with a smile and an expression in her eyes that could probably have cut glass.

Looking her directly in the eyes, Kenshin smiled and said, "Thank you, Kaoru! I.. appreciate your concern for me."

Managing to simultaneously ignore the flex of his muscles as he pulled the shirt over his head and not stomp out of the living room in annoyance at the way he hadn't even _blinked_ at being offered a shirt that color, Kaoru went back to her rocking chair and settled in to watch the rest of the movie and compose an alphabetical list of horrible fates she wanted to inflict on a certain red-haired, violet- or possibly amber-eyed annoyance currently grinning broadly at Westley's explanation of "to the pain."

Once the movie was over, and Sano had volunteered to help dispose of the last of the pizza, Kaoru headed into the kitchen to put the glasses into the dishwasher and the paper plates in the large bag of general moving-related garbage. Megumi followed shortly afterwards, bringing Sano's empty beer bottles and tossing them into the recycling bin.

"Hey, Kaoru; Sano and I are going to head home soon. Should we give Yahiko a ride back home? I can't imagine you'd want him biking back at this hour."

"That would be great, Megumi. I can bring his bike back home tomorrow sometime; it's no problem. Thanks for all of your help! Oh.. and Megumi?"

"Yes?"

"What's a horrible, painful, debilitating and preferably fatal disease that starts with "x"?

* * *

Author's Notes: Welcome back to the land of the living...

Thank you to everybody who's reviewed this story! Sorry that I haven't mentioned all ya'll before, but I really do appreciate all of your support, comments, and threats of stalking and/or killer squirrels to make sure that I update regularly. I'm aiming to update once a week (looks nervously at squirrels).

Fantasy Angel Victoria: Excellent questions! evil authorial eyebrow waggle Hope that this chapter gave some hints as to what the answers might be.

Nekotsuki: Yes, this is a bit different from other things I've been working on... so glad that you're enjoying it! Happy that you approve of the reunion; hope that you enjoyed how it, um, continued.

Pego: Yes, indeed, the "Buffy"-ness is a definite characteristic of this story. Glad that you noticed!

Scented Candles: Well, as you can see, Kenshin does indeed remember everything. And he seems to have some plans. Or possibly schemes. Well, at least Kaoru thinks that he does... And, in terms of your other questions.. well, we'll just have to wait and see, now, won't we...

Triste1: Thank you for complimenting the grammar in the first couple of chapters! That made me very happy (I am SUCH a geek). Hmm.. I will try to make sure future chapters get thoroughly proof-read. Glad that you like the humor in the earlier chapters; hope that you continue to enjoy it.

In this chapter I don't own: "The Princess Bride," (including the Rodents of Unusual Size)"Muppet Treasure Island," "The Wizard of Oz," "Highlander," or Dorothy Parker's definition of a "suicide blonde" as "one who dyed by her own hands."


	6. Winding Down

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter 6: Winding Down

* * *

Kenshin said a series of perfectly polite goodbyes while Megumi and Sano and Yahiko were still sorting out who was carrying what out to the car. Rapid thinking and throwing on her dish gloves saved Kaoru from having to shake his hand, but she couldn't do anything about the knowing look in his eyes that said he knew exactly why she'd developed a sudden urge to thoroughly clean off the kitchen counters. 

'_And disinfect them. And if I could figure out a way to burn them.. dammit, what is it about this guy that always makes me think like a pyromaniac?'_

Once she was alone in her new apartment, and had developed a reasonable plan for what she was going to unpack next... her clothes, definitely, and the rest of her books... anything kitchen-related could wait... Kaoru relaxed.

Until she had figured out exactly how big of a problem Kenshin was going to be, and what exactly he wanted —well, she was pretty sure she knew what he wanted, and that sword was staying exactly where it was, thank you very much— she was just going to have to be careful. And try to figure out a way to eliminate the recently-returned demonic threat without making her nearest and dearest think that the stress of suddenly living in the real world had completely unhinged her.

That probably meant that starting a notebook clearly labeled "101 Ways to Kill Kenshin" was out of the question.

'_I wonder if I should set up the computer so that I can see if EBay sells things like wooden stakes and big silver crosses... not that I'm sure that would work... still, it would be a place to start. That or see if I can persuade the building manager that we really need a moat, on the off chance that Kenshin can't cross running water...'_

Kaoru pursed her lips and shook her head with a sigh as she finished gathering the leftovers and packing them up to put into the fridge. She had to admit that Battousai... Kenshin... whatever his real name might be... had come up with a completely diabolical way of sneaking back into her life.

Normality.

Everything about this version of Kenshin practically screamed "harmless, average guy"—completely unlike the predatory, dangerous aura he'd exuded in high school, the one that had made him so irresistible to the people around him. Even the fact that he was friends with Sano made him seem annoyingly normal. Kaoru honestly couldn't think of a person less attuned to possible supernatural events or less likely to get caught up in them than Sanosuke Sagara. Not that Sano lacked imagination, she amended. It was just that all of his mental energies were devoted to making his way in the real world. No time to indulge in flights of fancy like demons when you were concentrating on figuring out plausible-sounding reasons for other people to pick up the tab. It was the same with Megumi, who had all of the practical common sense needed to be a success in her profession.

It was better that way; she knew that. It was better that her friends and family just went on thinking that the world was cheerful and normal and completely free of supernatural threats. The only problem was persuading the supernatural threats themselves of that. At the moment, there was nothing specific that Kaoru could point to in order to prove to her friends that Kenshin was a threat; nothing that she wanted to talk about, certainly nothing that they would believe.

She was really hoping that Kenshin didn't decide to jump straight to the "Reveal the secret hiding place of my sword or your friends and/or relatives are going to be dumped into this tank of koi fish with severe personality problems, BWA HA HA HA HA!" part of the proceedings without seeing if he could get what he wanted by just threatening her. Not that she wanted to be threatened, of course, but it would at least give her a little bit of time to come up with a plan.

If he did decide to involve Sano and Megumi and Yahiko... Kaoru couldn't think of anything brilliant off the top of her head to hinder it, given her earlier conclusion that telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth was only going to convince them that she was a few Froot Loops short of a bowl. As much as she hated it, she was going to have to wait for Kenshin to make a move and see what sorts of tactics he was going to employ before she came up with a counter-move. In the meantime, her only options were to do research, exercise caution, and wait. And take out any frustrations on her brother during kendo practice.

She double-checked her locks and all of her windows out of habit before she decided to take a quick shower before bed to get rid of the grime of a full day spent hauling and cleaning and then hauling some more.

Stepping out of the shower, she suddenly realized that she hadn't unpacked her bathrobe yet. Wrapping a towel around herself and muttering under her breath, Kaoru went to go dig through the boxes in her bedroom, where she'd tossed her non-winter clothes, in an attempt to find something clean and comfortable to sleep in.

For a moment, she regretted giving Kenshin that sweatshirt. It really was terribly comfortable, and she'd used it as a nightshirt in the past. Particularly when she felt the need to wear something snuggly enough to make her forget things like exam stress, work stress, Misao's dog eating her favorite shoes, or demonic former high school classmates whose weapon she'd stolen.

Kaoru went over to the boxes of her clothing and opened the first one, only to find that it was empty. Blinking slightly, she proceeded to the next box, only to discover the same thing. Turning almost without conscious thought, Kaoru reached out a hand and opened her closet door.

All of her seasonal clothes were there, hanging neatly, arranged by outfit and color. Her brain couldn't manage more than a faint, _'Huh...'_ as it replayed an image of Kenshin coming out of her bedroom after she'd woken up, before a thought struck her. _'Oh..please, please don't tell me...'_

Her feet moved almost of their own volition over to her dresser, and she opened the drawers with trepidation... to find them filled with her neatly-arranged t-shirts, socks that had been perfectly paired off, and...

'_The next time I see him, I'm going to throw him out the window. No, I'm going to take him to Sano's place, which is on a much higher floor, and toss him out of THAT window...'_ Kaoru thought as she looked down into the drawer of perfectly folded, arranged-by-color, matching-sets-neatly-matched stockings, bras, and underwear.

* * *

Walking back to where he was currently staying, breathing in the faint scent of Kaoru that he could still smell in the ridiculously bright sweatshirt she'd handed him, Kenshin smiled to himself. 

The day had gone very, very well.

Better than he'd expected, actually. When he'd gotten to know Sano a couple of years ago, he hadn't expected the man to end up dating the cousin of the girl he'd been looking for for so long. When he'd realized the situation, he'd had to spend several months managing to avoid any occasion where he might get introduced to Sano's girlfriend's cousin... although the time Sano had tried to persuade him to agree to a blind dinner date had _almost_ been amusing enough to get him to agree.

The casual mention that Kaoru was going to be moving, however, had given him the perfect opportunity.

Why go to all the trouble of lurking in a dark, ridiculously uncomfortable alley stinking of things even _he_ didn't want to think about when you could casually stroll in in the middle of the day? A friend of a friend, someone whose help had been gratefully accepted—true, she hadn't known whose help she was expressing gratitude for at the time, but that was a mere technicality.

And, of course, there was very little she could do, surrounded by her nearest and dearest. Well, not unless she wanted to look like she'd gone completely crazy. It was a situation that had played right into his hands.

One corner of his mouth quirked up. He had been curious about what her reaction would be before he'd seen her. Would she remember him, or would she refuse to let herself acknowledge the truth? Would she panic? Scream?

The fainting had surprised him. Although, considering everything he knew about Kaoru, he should have realized she'd do something completely unexpected. As it was, he'd been so startled that he'd barely managed to catch her as she dropped to the ground.

She still smelled the same.. sweet and clean, with the scent of jasmine. And Sano and Yahiko's panicked decision that the couch had to get brought upstairs first for Kaoru to lie on had allowed Kenshin to spend quite a bit longer than he'd expected cradling her in his arms. When Megumi had finally noticed, she'd been apologetic, and Kenshin's smiling declaration that it was perfectly fine, not a problem, really no trouble at all, to keep holding Kaoru and carry her bridal-style into the apartment, had clearly made her think even more highly of his unselfishness.

The fact that he was able to lean ever-so-slightly forward and press his nose into her hair and the curve of her neck was something he didn't really feel like mentioning.

Her fingers had been clenched slightly in his shirt when he finally went to set her down, a fact which had made him smile as he went to untangle them. He was tempted to brush his lips across the back of her knuckles, but forced himself to behave on the grounds that he would rather do something like that for the first time when she was awake... and when neither her little brother nor her cousin were anxiously hovering nearby with tea and sympathy.

"I knew, I just _knew_ that she was going to push herself too hard..." Megumi muttered in concerned annoyance.

"Does she do this sort of thing often? The fainting, I mean." Kenshin inquired in the perfect tone of slight curiosity about the friend of a friend.

"Fainting? No. I mean, I remember that she fainted once back in high school, but other than that... it's just that she always works herself too hard; she never gives herself any time to stop and rest, and what with graduating, and starting her job, and now moving..." The dark-eyed girl shook her head. "Honestly, that girl needs a keeper."

Kenshin looked down at where Kaoru was curled up on the couch, her face not quite as pale as the last time he'd seen her, but close. He could see the dark circles under her eyes, and he wasn't entirely certain that she hadn't lost weight since high school.

"Mmmm" he said non-commitedly, and then, changing the subject, continued, "Well, while you're keeping an eye on Kaoru, I'm going to help with the unpacking, ok? Unless you need me for something in here. Oh, hang on, I brought some homemade shortbread—do you think she might like some, after she wakes up?"

"If she doesn't, I'll make her eat it anyway; I'm sure she needs it. Thanks, Kenshin! You've been a big help."

Of course, Kenshin hadn't specified exactly _how_ he was going to help Kaoru with her unpacking...

The night air was warm and pleasant as Kenshin walked down the streets of the neighborhood Kaoru had moved into. The buildings were mostly older, brick and stone and occasional decorative elements from when this had been a thriving quarter of the city. Now a fair number of the storefronts had been boarded up, and the rest had heavy metal grates over them at night. He could sense a few loiterers in random alleys or doorways, but nothing close enough to worry him.

Sano had mentioned that Kaoru had picked this neighborhood because the rent was cheaper, and because it was fairly close to the school where she was practice teaching and where she hoped to get a permanent position the following year. It was a far cry from the pleasantly green, pleasantly average suburb that the high school had been located in.

Taking a shortcut through an alleyway, Kenshin sincerely hoped that she'd managed to buy a car by now, instead of getting around solely on that bicycle she used to have...

_Finding himself surrounded by smoke and the smell of blood was nothing new, really._

_The fact that the blood was his, however... that was definitely... unusual._

_He staggered to his feet, choking and spitting up the last of the blood that had been in his lungs. Putting his hand to his chest, where he could sense the faint burn of a healing wound, he winced slightly at the feel of what had clearly been a deep puncture, one that had obviously pierced a lung and possibly hit the top of his heart. Feeling upwards, he found a second healing slash mark through his throat, one that explained the large puddle of blood he'd found himself in._

_The burning sensation on his cheek was also clearly a healing wound, one that, unless he was mistaken, might actually leave a scar._

_Kenshin shook his head to clear it. What on earth had happened? What could have attacked him and inflicted this kind of wounds?_

_And was it still here... where was here, anyway?_

_Looking around, he realized that he was in a room with a black and white... and now red... tile floor... counters with mixers, several ovens, a dishwasher next to a sink that somebody had filled with papers that were flickering with flames that had already started to reach the wooden cupboards above them, walls that were a kind of pale industrial green only found in hospitals and..._

_...schools? High school... _

_... the smell of his own blood, and smoke, and, very faintly, jasmine..._

_.. the memory of deep blue eyes... dark hair..._

_Looking down on the floor, he could see a piece of fabric... a hair ribbon, he recognized, although he couldn't have said how... at the edge of the pool of blood._

_He picked it up with hands that were still slightly unsteady from blood loss and his recent experience with death, and tried to remember exactly what had happened._

_He still had a couple of minutes before the fire got dangerous enough that he would have to leave... and why was the building on fire, anyway? Some kind of cooking class disaster?_

_No...no.. it hadn't been that... although... _

_His eyes were drawn to the open closet door at the back of the room.._

_Closet. Bucket. There was a bucket in the closet. He knew that._

_Why on earth was he remembering a bucket?_

_No, not the bucket; the closet. There had been somebody in the closet.._

_His fragmented memory was returning now as his body got past remembering things like how to breathe and moved on to secondary concerns._

_A girl. The girl that he'd seen in the hallway, and, briefly, in the library... those blue eyes that sparked at him, unexpected in a girl who he wasn't sure he'd ever heard speak two words outside of the classroom..._

_... the girl who, he remembered, had seen him in the auditorium... _

_The girl who had been a witness._

_That... was bad._

_He'd chased her—of course he'd chased her—and he'd found her, in that closet, in the back of the room.._

_... She'd been there, practically projecting helplessness, but he'd felt no fear from her; it had been confusing, but he'd been distracted by... other things about her._

_And then... _

_She'd killed him._

_Quickly, without hesitation, striking fiercely and repeatedly.. and had stood there, her face pale as bone in the moonlight, the last thing he remembered seeing before waking up again._

_Kenshin groaned to himself. Killed, taken completely by surprise... his Master was going to have a field day with this. He could hear the lectures already._

_The fire was rising in earnest now, and he realized he had to get out of the building. Remembering and thinking could come later; now he needed to take his..._

_Thought stopped as he suddenly realized that his sword wasn't there._

_Looking around, he ascertained that no, his sword was not on the floor next to him, nor leaned against the wall, nor in the closet..._

_She'd taken his sword? She'd killed him, and then she'd taken his sword before she left._

'_Well," he thought 'Well, well, well...'_

_And he grinned to himself as he leapt lightly out of the window and deftly skirted the arriving fire trucks._

'_How very, very interesting...'_

_And as he headed across the soccer field, replaying the details of his encounter with the girl.. 'Kaoru,' he managed to remember...'Kaoru...something that starts with a 'K'...' Kenshin thought to himself that he had been completely correct when he had decided that some things were worth breaking rules for..._

As he exited the alley and crossed the street to the low wall surrounding the cemetery, Kenshin smiled again.

He could still remember returning the next day, to a school that was half a burnt-out ruin, and shell-shocked students, to news cameras and reporters speculating on rampaging gangs and PCP usage, reciting platitudes about parental and community involvement. Barely paying attention, he had skirted the crowds like a shadow, looking for long black hair and blue eyes, that bright sparking spirit.

But there had been no sign of her. In retrospect, he supposed it made sense. Since she already knew that the school was mostly burned down, there was no reason for her to show up. And if the paleness of her face was anything to go by, she might very well have gone home and collapsed from the stress. If only he knew where home was for her...

She had apparently already done something to his sword that made it impossible for him to track its location; another point in her favor. He would have expected... but no; considering the fact that she'd managed to kill him and then apparently work hard to cover up everything that had happened in the school last night, he couldn't say that he had _expected _her to do anything except surprise him again.

She had continued to surprise him; he had stayed in the city as long as he dared, looking for her, trying to move without attracting attention to himself or, potentially, to her.

And he had continued looking, whenever he had the opportunity, even in places where he honestly didn't expect her to be, on the grounds that, considering their earlier encounters, things he didn't expect were the most likely things to happen where she was concerned.

The first conclusion that he'd arrived at, almost the morning after his death, was that he would need to have a plan when he saw her again, rather than just rushing in blindly. In fact, he had written out a list somewhere... now was probably a good time to dig it out from wherever it had gotten to in the intervening time.

It had taken him five years, but he had finally found the girl. Kaoru. Not only that, he'd let her know, which was a different thing altogether. Now, he just had to think of what to do next...

Leaping easily over the wall, Kenshin considered for a moment. Actually, he did have a good idea what to do _immediately_ next.

Reaching his hand and mind out, he pulled the sword he'd been borrowing out of where he traditionally kept his weapons.

After the excitement of the day, a little work before bed was just what he needed to wind down.

* * *

(official movie trailer announcer-type voice) Next time on "Frozen Moonlight": School days, school days... Kaoru deals with supervisors, students, and those darned library stacks. 

In this chapter I don't own: Senor Senor Senior's peeved koi fish from "Kim Possible," or any Froot Loops at all. Not even one. I don't know what that says about my sanity level. And I continue to not own anything by Joss Whedon.

Author's Notes: Many thanks to Triste1, whose review made me realize I had posted this without running it through SpellCheck first, and had thus missed a couple of things. Sigh. So, this is a quick re-post; nothing chaned, just the typos corrected. Since I'm trying to post a certain number of pages at a time, this week there are two chapters! Whee! I expect to get the other one fully proofread and posted sometime tomorrow. Thank you so much to everybody who's been reviewing, stalking, or threatening with squirrels, vampires, or other enforcers; I hope that you continue to enjoy the story. I appreciate everybody who cheered for Kaoru not being a damsel in distress! She's really a strong character in a lot of ways, and I like being able to show that. I'm also having a lot of fun with Kenshin's character; I considered having him not remember his past, but.. it's much better this way. Although Kaoru probably wouldn't agree with that. Glad people liked the pink sweatshirt and the use of "The Princess Bride" (one of my favorite films; I was glad to get a chance to use it here). As for other questions.. .evil authorial eyebrow waggle ... Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

On a side note, for those of you who have been enjoying "Frozen Moonlight," I highly recommend Wombat's thoroughly brilliant "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"/"Rurouni Kenshin" fanfic "Edodale"—horror, humor, high school. Excellent stuff. Just do a search for it, or check on my favorites list.

Responses to Reviewers:

Conscience Fairy: Sorry to cause traumatic high school poetry flashback moments!

Fantasy Angel Victoria: I like long reviews, don't worry. They are very inspirational.

Jbella: Glad that you approve! I loved giving Kenshin fun things to say.

Mz Amber Eyes: The line about Kenshin possibly showing far too many teeth was referring to the fact that Kaoru can't quite figure out if he has fangs or not. She thinks that she saw some back in high school, when he was slaughtering everybody in the auditorium, but it wasn't as if she could ask him at the time. And she's still not sure, although she has strong suspicions...

Lendra-chan: Well, Kenshin can always devote attention to Kaoru's neck later on...

Nekotsuki: Drat... for at least one of the chapters, you're right; my dividing lines seem to have vanished. Argh. I'm not sure if they were the places that you were finding unclear, although I'll go back and try to re-read as if I don't already know who's saying what. Other than putting flashbacks and italics and lines for scene breaks, I'm not sure what I could do to differentiate the POVs.. .sigh... clearly must think about this some more... Thank you for your reviews! They are always fun to read.

Nobody: Um.. what disease? Don't worry; nobody's sick. Kaoru just fainted, for obvious reasons.

Pego: Yes, reviews are also excellent motivators! grins

Scented Candles: Dorothy Parker rocks. Hmm.. why on earth would you suspect dear, perfectly ordinary, couldn't-possibly-be-demonic Kenshin of making plans? whistles innocently

StrawberryPromises: Yes, indeed, Kenshin is nice to look at. Perhaps I shouldn't have had Kaoru give him that sweatshirt at all...

Triste1: sighs I know; the sentences do tend to get long. Kind of stream-of-consciousness writing (I have a run-on consciousness, I guess). So glad that you are enjoying the story that much!

Venusgoddess: giggles Not a problem! I am glad that you like the story. (and, I do in fact like your stories as well; Kaoru as an interior designer is an interesting idea!)

And, finally: somebody wrote a review asking about why Kaoru had a stereo and DVDs and so on (when she was talking about her clothes being hand-me-downs or from Goodwill)... I looked for it, and then somehow failed to find it again. It's a mystery to me how I could do that, but I managed. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm impressed that you noticed that level of detail! The thing to remember is that this is now after Kaoru has graduated from college, and has had time to get things as birthday presents or Christmas presents, and graduation presents, and I assume that she had a job during college to earn money.


	7. By Any Other Name

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter 7: By Any Other Name

* * *

The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing cheerfully, the coffeepot was burbling happily away in the kitchen, and Kaoru really didn't want to face any of it. 

Well, maybe the coffeepot.

She slowly peeked out from where she'd cocooned herself under the covers, scanning the room for any sign of black jeans or red hair.

Vastly relieved, Kaoru got out of bed and staggered over to the shower. It was her first day in her new apartment and still her first semester in her new classroom assignment; she was not in the mood to deal with annoying and stalker-like complications.

Unfortunately, she couldn't chalk it all up to a bizarre hallucination, since she was definitely in her new apartment, and her clothes had all clearly been unpacked by somebody with more organizational skills than her.

Kaoru got dressed, gulped down her coffee, managed to only burn one slice of toast—although she maintained that that sort of thing was the fault of the toaster—and sprinted out to where her bicycle was chained.

Sano had been telling her to invest in a car for a while now, but she figured she really didn't need to worry about it until the weather got colder and it started getting dark earlier. For now, she would enjoy the exercise and fresh air that she got riding to and from school and continue to save what she could so that she could get a car that was actually decent enough to last for the next several years when the time came.

Normally, she would use the time to relax and think about the day, but today she was having trouble.

'_Gee, I wonder why THAT could be,'_ she thought to herself sarcastically. _'Not like the Ghost of Traumas Past suddenly showed up on my doorstep, making small talk with my friends and... and... helping to haul furniture. And how on earth does he know Sano, anyway? Not like I can ask Sano, 'Hey, so, how did YOU get to know a demon, anyway?'_

_Although..._

_Sano can't possibly know that he's a demon, and he's known Kenshin long enough to trust him, so... so he must know Kenshin as doing SOMETHING for a living, like being a doctor, or a teacher, or a lawyer—well, probably not a lawyer, some kind of reasonably non-demonic profession, —but something. Which means that Kenshin must have some kind of long-term cover, or whatever...something he does on days that don't end in "Die!"... and that means, if I can find out what it is, and kill him for REAL this time... I can manage to solve this...This is good, it's at least vaguely plan-like, and more than I had last night...' _

First things first, though. Before she even thought about interrogating Sano and trying to track down Kenshin, Kaoru was going to need to go spend some serious time in the library making a list of things likely to kill pesky returning demons...

Of course, since the demon in question was probably going to be on his guard after the _last_ time she'd killed him, she was going to have to be very, very careful about it. However, at least now she had a plan. That was progress, right?

She arrived at the school approximately five minutes before the buses pulled in, which meant it was approximately fifteen minutes after she should have gotten there. The new apartment was clearly slightly further away than she'd thought, and she made a mental note to adjust her alarm clock and morning routine accordingly. As much as that was going to suck.

'_Dignified walk down the hallway, dignified walk down the hallway... do NOT run, do NOT end up at the classroom door looking red-faced and sweaty and discombobulated and...'_

Logically, she knew that teachers couldn't get detention, but there was still a part of her brain that refused to believe it, and that had a tendency to run around gibbering in panic, afraid that...

"Well, Ms Kamiya—how lovely that you've decided to join us this morning."

Kaoru froze at the slightly mocking voice from behind her, the faint scent of smoke she could smell wafting from the Teacher's Lounge.

'_Rats...'_ she thought, before she turned around to face her supervising teacher, a man who, until yesterday's encounter, was ranked pretty much number one on her list of people she didn't want to encounter unexpectedly and without preparation. And possibly heavy weaponry.

"Good morning, Mr. Fujita," Kaoru said as she turned. She was particularly proud of the fact that she managed to not glare, growl, or blush.

Giving her his trademark sarcastic semi-smirk, the older teacher replied, "Good morning. I trust that you remembered to review the materials we're going to be using today in fourth period?"

"Ah...yes; of course..." Kaoru replied, frantically searching her brain for the details of the papers she knew she'd read over the weekend, before the manifold horrors and annoyances of Moving Day.

"Excellent. Then you will of course be prepared to give the lecture to the class, to prepare them for the test that they will be taking on Wednesday."

"Yes, Mr. Fujita... are there slides or other materials that I need to get ready?"

'_Please let there be slides, please let there be slides; Powerpoint graphics, a film strip, a troop of explanatory mimes, something other than just me lecturing for the entire...'_

"No, Ms Kamiya; there are no other materials for you to worry about," he said, and his expression was several notches closer to a full-out smirk. "Just cover the material that was in the extensive and thorough set of notes I provided you with last week, and you should be fine."

With that, he turned and strode down the hallway, clearly expecting her to follow without being told.

Allowing herself to indulge in one tiny glare, Kaoru followed, her brain divided between a mental review of the notes she was expected to talk about and remembering things like walking and breathing.

All in all, she wasn't sure that she wouldn't have preferred to be given detention...

Fortunately, by the time fourth period rolled around, Kaoru had gotten her brain back into reasonable working order, mentally re-assembled the notes, paid close attention to Mr. Fujita's discussion of related topics in the earlier periods, and grabbed two more cups of truly horrible coffee from the Teacher's Lounge.

Granted it wasn't the best lecture she'd ever given, but she was certain her students—at least the ones who bothered to study and review over the next two days—would manage to pass the test.

Of course, with Mr. Fujita composing the exam, she supposed that it was never possible to be entirely sure.

After the class, one of her students stayed behind to ask questions during lunch. Actually, two of her students stayed behind to ask questions, and to make snarky comments at each other.

Mr. Fujita, of course, had already left for lunch, which Kaoru knew meant that he was in the Teacher's Lounge smoking until he was forced to come back when the next set of bells rang. That meant that this was entirely her problem. Oh, joy.

Kaoru sighed. This was really not her favorite part of her job.

"See? I _told_ you that that wasn't what the example was talking about; you're getting it completely wrong!"

"Yeah, right; if we do things your way, we're gonna end up setting the school on fire, idiot!"

She gritted her teeth and refrained from braining either of the two boys in front of her with a blackboard eraser.

"_Nobody_ is setting _anything_ in the building on fire." Kaoru said firmly _'Unless I have to do it. Again. But that doesn't count.'_ "Now, what exactly is the problem, you two?"

"Yutaro says..." "Yahiko wants to..." The two boys burst out simultaneously, causing Kaoru's eyebrow to twitch.

"What I would suggest," she finally said, in a tone that brooked no opposition, even from a teenaged younger brother, "is that both of you re-read the textbook over lunch, and remember what we talked about in class just now, and then, if you have any further questions, you can ask me after school. Ok?"

Fortunately, this mollified both of them and they left the classroom to head to the cafeteria. Kaoru heaved a sigh of relief. She had had trepidations about having her younger brother in the classroom where she was an Assistant Teacher, and Yahiko had been equally traumatized at the thought of having to listen to his sister, but they had developed a system that seemed to work.

Namely, they ignored each other. Well, not completely; Yahiko was still perfectly willing to ask questions, especially when he and his lab partner were having another of their disputes, but the name of sibling was anathema to both of them while they were on school grounds.

She wondered absently if she could persuade Kenshin to adopt a similar strategy... although preferably that strategy would be based on his going somewhere far, far away and not coming back. Ever.

Speaking of her current problem, Kaoru looked at her watch and tried to figure out how much time she had before Mr. Fujita returned. Was it enough to head to the library and start her research efforts?

Granted, a Junior High School library was hardly likely to have advanced demon-slaughtering tips, but the legends and myths section should provide her with a place to start.

'_Mythology connected to the... here we go!'_ she thought to herself as she reached the relevant section. Luckily for her, none of the students had yet figured out that the unused portions of the library were some of the best parts of the school for engaging in extra-curricular activities.

She really wasn't sure what to look for—she couldn't exactly go up to Kenshin and ask him what kind of demon he was and what he was doing wandering around this plane, let alone attending high school five years ago—so she settled for a selection of basic texts from various cultures, hoping she could pass off her sudden interest as some kind of personal project.

By the time she got back to the classroom, she barely had a chance to stuff the books into her bag before Mr. Fujita strolled in, looking highly irritated at having to leave almost an entire cigarette in the Teacher's Lounge ashtray.

'_You'd think that he'd have figured out by now how many cigarettes he can smoke in one period, and not continually end up starting one right before he has to leave... Hmm... I wonder how he'd react if we did a special unit on tobacco and its effects on the body? Megumi's got some great lung slides...'_

The remaining periods passed without incident, and, after the usual meeting to "debrief," as she thought of it, and discuss how the test on Wednesday was going to work, Kaoru spent some time waiting to see if Yahiko and Yutaro would show up with more questions. When they didn't, she assumed that they had found what they were looking for in the book and the notes, loaded up her bike, and headed home.

When she reached the parking lot of her apartment complex, she was so busy looking towards her door in case anything red-haired was lurking there that she skidded and almost hit a car that was pulling out from the other side of the lot.

As she righted herself and attempted to collect the books that had come tumbling out onto the ground, she heard the driver approaching.

"Why don't you look where you're..." she snapped angrily, spinning around and brandishing a copy of _Bullfinch's Mythology_ at him, only to meet a pair of amber eyes looking at her from behind dark red bangs.

Oh, terrific.

Only momentarily startled, Kaoru continued her rant, "What are you trying to do, kill someb —oh, never mind; I don't even want to know the answer... why are you here, and when are you going to go away and leave me alone, and give that back, you _moron_!"

Kenshin, who had bent down and started to gather her books for her, looked at the titles of the volumes he was carrying with one eyebrow raised, "My... you certainly are selecting some... _interesting_ reading material, Kaoru. Any particular reason for your choice of subject?"

She ground out, "It's a personal project," through gritted teeth and went to snatch the books back from him.

He moved his arm and turned so that her lunge brought her almost flush against his chest, so close that her breath moved the edges of his hair slightly, and she could catch the faint traces of ginger and pine trees.

She grabbed the book from him when his arm moved slightly downwards and moved back as fast as she could. Her leap backwards almost caused her to stumble and fall, and only the knowledge that he would doubtless reach out a hand that she would have no polite way of turning down enabled her to keep her balance.

Kaoru wondered if it was possible to "accidentally" brain somebody with a mythology textbook.

Kenshin's expression remained vaguely amused as she stepped back, but that changed as he looked beside her and saw her bike.

"You.. you're riding your _bike_ to and from school?" he demanded, in a tone that Kaoru could find no reasonable explanation for.

"No, but my broomstick was in the shop today. Obviously, I'm riding my bike; it's good exercise and I usually enjoy the peace and quiet and _time to myself_."

He frowned, and opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. She was glad; she doubted he would have appreciated her trying to shove her bike lock up his nose.

"If there's nothing else, Kenshin, I have unpacking and settling in and schoolwork to take care of. Go away."

She was braced for a fight, and was surprised when he merely nodded, something in his eyes almost distant, distracted, and then proceeded to get back into his car.

"Mm... Well, good luck with that, Kaoru." And then, as he closed his door, very faintly, "I'll see you later..."

Kaoru was sure that her glare was enough to burn holes in his tires, but, unfortunately, it didn't seem to work.

Taking several calming breaths, she headed over to her building, stuffing the books back into her bag as she walked.

'_Mail, mail, junk, take-out menu, take-out menu, take-out menu, take-out menu... if Yahiko's been putting take-out menus in my mailbox again, I'm gonna... junk, junk, bill.'_

The mail -and the menus; Kaoru was annoyed, but she was also a realist- went into her bag, and Kaoru tried to concentrate on what she wanted to take care of in her apartment as she headed up the stairs.

There was a large box outside of her door, white with a red ribbon. Slowing, she looked at it nervously.

Strange packages on one's doorstep, in her experience of watching films and reading books, did not bode well. On the other hand, it wasn't ticking, or oozing, or giving signs of attacking... and, frankly, Kenshin had been coming from the other part of the complex, so she was pretty sure that this wasn't...

Could this be something her father had sent? He had made noises about a moving-in present, and she had expected him yesterday or today...

Biting her lip, Kaoru knelt down, poked the box experimentally, and then slowly removed the ribbon.

Lifting the cover, she was overwhelmed with the scent of flowers as she gazed at two dozen perfect red roses, nestled in baby's breath and greenery, the most beautiful floral arrangement that she'd ever seen in her life, and certainly more expensive than she'd ever expected from her...

Running her hands almost reverently down the arrangement, from the velvety petals to the long stems, which had been carefully de-thorned, Kaoru's fingers suddenly met unexpected softness that her brain recognized as not being plant-like in nature.

She slid her fingers under it and tugged it into view...

... and found herself staring at a very familiar blue ribbon...

... a ribbon whose indigo color was faintly mottled with rusty splotches along one edge...

* * *

(official movie trailer announcer-type voice) Next time on "Frozen Moonlight": Timing questions, transportation questions, and research questions... good thing Kaoru has her notebooks and pens unpacked already... 

In this chapter I don't own: Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" or William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

Author's Note: dance of joy! "Frozen Moonlight" has fanart! The fabulously talented Dragonsdaughter has done some amazing pictures for this story. Right now, she's posted Kaoru looking for a weapon after seeing Kenshin massacre the obnoxious jocks/popular types ("Running Away Now"), and a WONDERFUL picture of Kenshin... contemplating certain things after he recovers from that whole being killed thing ("Breaking the Rules"). Her page at Deviant Art is http:dragondee(dot)deviantart(dot)com/ I highly recommend her artwork and, also her writing.

Reviewer Responses: Yay! Over a hundred reviews! I feel both flattered and inspired... I am so glad that people are enjoying this story. I am certainly having fun writing it.

AngelWingsbaka: Happy to amuse!

Elgaladangel: Yes, Kaoru is.. upset. Just a tad. With reason. And, glad that you are finding hints that inspire the imagination.

girl from ipanema: It is indeed a dilemma...

lolo popoki: Yup, "Kim Possible"—great show for spoofing high school and the superhero genre. And, indeed, Kenshin is rather evil. Just a tad. Bwa ha ha.

Mz Amber Eyes: Ah-ha! Glad that you reviewed again, since, as I said, I kinda couldn't find your earlier review when I was looking for it. I don't think that Kaoru has really changed her status that much; after all, you'll notice that she's living in a kind of run-down older neighborhood, and using her bike to get back and forth from work rather than owning a car. Interesting that you pick up on that aspect; there's actually a scene a bit later where Kaoru thinks about whether she can afford something or not! Don't worry; she's not going to suddenly be portrayed as rich or anything like that. And I'm very glad that you like the story as it's being written.

Scented Candles: Always happy to get your reviews! Hope that you continue to read and enjoy. As for commital or non-commital writing.. grins

Scythe195: Yes, indeed.. definitely plotting. Thanks for the e-Bay tip.. after remembering that I'd forgotten to spellcheck Chapter 6, I went back and corrected it. Oddly enough, Word insists that it's "EBay," so that's what it is at the moment.

Triste1: Argh... glares at spellcheck button I KNEW there was something that I forgot to do before I posted Chapter 6. Sigh. Anyway, aside from my usual "Grammar: More like guidelines than actual rules" style, I have now spell-checked and re-posted Chapter 6. Many thanks! And, it continues to make me happy that you enjoy this and write such long reviews.

xZig-zagx: Sadly (or, amusingly, depending), the "euthanasia" comment was actually pretty much exactly something a student of one of my High School English teacher said to her. Eek. Glad that you like Kaoru's inner thoughts; they're fun to write.


	8. This Ain't No Technological Breakdown

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter 8: This Ain't No Technological Breakdown

* * *

The one positive thing about feeding two dozen long-stemmed red roses down her garbage disposal was that it made her apartment smell really, really nice. Even the next morning, as Kaoru was stumbling from bedroom to coffee maker, the odor of roses permeated the air, causing her to stop and sniff appreciatively, enjoying the sweet perfume... 

... until she remembered exactly why that scent was filling her apartment...

Scowling at nothing in particular, Kaoru wondered if she could manage not to breathe for the rest of the time she was getting ready for work.

'_This is no time to stop and smell the roses of... of... evil distractedness and... and... demonic...umm... evil!'_ Sighing, Kaoru decided that she really shouldn't attempt proverbs before she'd had her coffee. Possibly not even afterwards.

Instead of toast, she opted for a quick bowl of cereal. Actually, it was a quick bowl of several cereals, since Kaoru tended to buy boxes of her favorites and then mix them together. At the moment she was exploring the possibilities of o-shaped cereals in different combinations.

'_Milk, milk...where did I put the milk... lychee-flavored yogurt? How did that get in here? Ah,there's the milk...'_

Remembering how tardy she'd been the day before, Kaoru finished gulping down breakfast in record time and dashed down the stairs to where her bike...

...wasn't...

Blinking in shock, Kaoru took a step backwards and looked again. Black bike that had seen better days, belonging to the lady upstairs, who had also seen better days. Blue and purple bikes from the teenage twins in the next building over. Green bike whose owner had apparently moved away and forgotten all about it. Silver bike that she used to ride back and forth from her very, very important job...

Nope, still not there.

Kaoru felt like her lungs weren't getting any oxygen as she stared at the bike rack. How could... how was...

She'd just moved here! Into a neighborhood that was supposed to be... well, safe enough that her father accepted that she was living here. And she'd only been here for two days! And now she was going to be late for work, _really_ late, not just slightly late, and... and...

Kaoru looked speculatively at the green bike and wondered how much effort it would take to cut the lock.

Her toolbox was upstairs; surely it couldn't be THAT difficult to...

"Something wrong?" a horribly familiar voice inquired

Besides which, she felt a sudden urgent need to have access to her hammer.

Turning around, Kaoru glared at Kenshin, who was leaning casually against the passenger side of his car, looking at her with that perfectly calm expression that made her want to throw things—preferably sharp- at him.

"No," she said between clenched teeth, "Everything is perfectly fine, thank for asking. What are you doing here and how soon are you leaving?"

"Oh, just had some things to take care of," Kenshin said smoothly. He held out a paper bag to her and continued, "There's a great bakery around the corner from here. Danish?"

"Yes, it is," she replied flatly, before turning to walk past him and head to the bus stop. If she was very, very lucky and promised to light candles to whichever deities controlled the city's public transportation networks, she might be able to make it to school before either Mr. Fujita or—possibly worse—her little brother noticed that she had been missing for too long.

She wasn't sure how it happened—she really needed to remember to pay more attention to the demon she was near rather than the other, less supernatural problems in her life—but Kenshin was suddenly standing in front of her again.

'_HOW does he bloody do that?'_ Kaoru thought with vast exasperation.

"Let me give you a ride," Kenshin said. It wasn't really a suggestion.

'_Over my dead...'_ Kaoru thought, then forced herself to smile and say, with cutting politeness, "No, thank you; I can take the bus without any trouble at all."

Kenshin looked at his watch with what appeared to Kaoru to be exaggerated care and said, "Hmm... I don't think that the bus will get you there on time. It's no problem, really. Just get in."

"I _really_ don't want..."

"Get into the car, kitten. I'm not asking again."

Kaoru gaped, then sputtered, "Ki—I—you... You weren't "asking" before, you... you..."

Tilting his head in consideration, Kenshin commented, "No, I actually wasn't. Come on, unless you _want_ to be late for work two days in a row... I promise that I don't bite first thing in the morning, and I'll let you pick whatever radio station you want."

She opened her mouth to say something, found that her brain was still having trouble deciding what it wanted to be furious about first, and closed it again abruptly. Kaoru had to admit that she was fairly stuck. Rock and a hard place stuck. Scylla and Charbydis stuck. Devil and the deep blue... she sighed.

The plain fact of the matter was that Kenshin was now the only way for her to get to school on time, and if she didn't accept his offer, she was going to be in _serious_ trouble with her more-than-slightly nerve-wracking supervising teacher, whose recommendation was going to be what would make her or break her when she went to look for an actual job.

'_If he really wanted to drag me off for a good bout of threatening first thing in the morning, he could just do it here in the parking lot; there was no need to pretend to be all helpful and stuff... And, frankly, in this situation, annoying Mr. Fujita somehow manages to be much scarier than the possibility that this is some kind of elaborate trap by Kenshin. Demonic violence is a better excuse than a missing bike, at any rate...not more plausible, but it would probably have more obvious results...'_

Giving Kenshin a look that was intended to be equal parts Glare of Death and a subtle reminder that many women living in large cities made a point of carrying pepper spray in their purses, Kaoru got into the car. She felt tight as a coiled spring the entire ride to school, no matter how much she tried to distract herself with visions of lecture notes and test preparation. Kenshin was no help at all. He focused on the road, drove perfectly safely, put the radio on a news program with light jazz music and left it there, and, otherwise, was the model of an efficient chauffeur. There were no attempts at creepy small talk, no strident demands to have his sword returned, no threats to her or her family...

If anything, the polite silence made her tenser than ever.

When they approached the school, Kaoru was strongly tempted to make him let her out a block away so that nobody would see her getting out of his car. However, before she could figure out a way to phrase her request that didn't sound like she was a teenager embarrassed about the family station wagon, Kenshin was pulling into the faculty parking lot and stopping the car.

She blinked, confused, but decided not to press her luck and uttered a garbled, "ThankyouverymuchKenshinI'llbeheadingofftoclassnow" as she exited. Before she had gotten more than a couple of steps, a cry of "Kaoru!" had her stopping and spinning around, automatically reaching out her hand to catch... car keys?

She opened her mouth to say... well, she wasn't sure, but before she could figure it out, Kenshin grinned at her and said, "Just put the keys under the driver's seat when you get back to your place, ok? Don't worry; I've got a spare set."

With that, he turned, hands in his jacket pockets, and strode casually away.

Kaoru wasn't sure how long she would have stood there, doing her best impression of a startled fish, but the sound of the bells from the church across the street broke her reverie. Putting the keys in her bag, she finally turned and headed to class.

'_What... why...he's gving me his car for the day? Why would he...'_

Maybe it was actually a really good thing that Kenshin had happened to be in the neighborhood the morning that her bike had happened to get...

Kaoru stopped suddenly and mentally ran through the morning's events again. And then once more.

Oh, as soon as she figured out how, she was going to _kill_ him. Possibly more than once.

The morning's events had her on edge the entire school day. Even Mr. Fujita noticed that she was more tense than usual. Well, at least she thought that he noticed. At any rate, his sarcasm was much milder than the average Tuesday. Or else her powers of perception were seriously injured by the knowledge of the car keys lurking in the depths of her purse, and the thought that she was going to be driving Kenshin's car, by herself, back to her apartment that afternoon.

The drive itself was also tense, no matter how loudly she turned up the relaxing music. Try as she might, Kaoru couldn't come up with an easy way to accidentally misplace a late-model BMW by the time she'd gotten home.

Well, none that wouldn't leave her stranded in a part of town she really didn't want to be in, even in daylight.

Briefly wondering if she could write "Free to a Good Home" on the windshield with soap and claim it been there when she got the car, Kaoru put the keys under the seat, locked it, and headed back upstairs, checking the mail for the days allotment of bills, junk mail, and still more take-out menus. She was strongly tempted to go home, lock and bolt her doors, turn out all the lights, and pretend that she had fled the country, because otherwise, she was fairly sure Kenshin would take advantage of coming by to pick up his car to knock on her door for no good reason.

Although maybe if she could figure out a way to booby-trap the hallway...

Kaoru sighed as she opened the door to her apartment and deposited her bag and coat on the chair next to the door. Just because he knocked on her door didn't mean that she had to let him into her apartment. She could just talk to him with the chain on the door, or grandly ignore him, or make faces at him through the peephole.

Bad enough that she could still smell those idiotic, recently-disposed of...

The mail fluttered to the floor, forgotten, as Kaoru looked at her dining room table and saw the vase, with two dozen, perfect, red long-stemmed roses...

For the next hour, she alternated between valiantly ignoring the flowers and glaring at them balefully. One batch had already made her garbage disposal complain loudly, and she was afraid that a repeat performance might kill the poor thing. She wondered if there was anyplace local enough to walk to that was still open and selling weed killer at this hour...

Actually, Kaoru admitted to herself, she had a much more important problem to deal with. She doubted that her bike would be re-appearing anytime soon, and there was no way that she was going to spend another morning riding with the one she was fairly certain was responsible for whatever unfortunate fate it had met. She was all in favor of killing Kenshin, painfully if possible, but she really didn't want to do it in a moving vehicle. Well, not if she was in the vehicle at the same time.

Damn... she'd missed a perfectly good opportunity to try to put a bomb under his car. Although, as she thought about it, car bombs were _definitely_ a topic she wouldn't find useful information about in the school library. Oh well.

First things first. Picking up the vase, Kaoru went to her door and looked out into the hallway.

'_Since these seem to be the floral equivalent of those stupid re-lighting birthday candles, maybe I shouldn't try to kill them again...futility is repeating the same course of action and expecting different results...'_

Looking carefully to the left and to the right, and then to the left again on general principle, Kaoru snuck out on quiet sock-clad feet, carefully navigated two flights of stairs, and left the flowers at the door of the elderly widow with the three cats. She could use something to brighten up her apartment for the rest of the week... or, she supposed, at least until the cats started trying to eat the roses.

Having disposed of that problem Kaoru went back to her apartment to make herself dinner and start thinking about her transportation issues again. Closing her eyes, she reached into the freezer and pulled out one of the TV dinners that she had made sure were there practically before she'd moved in anything else. Her kitchen might be seriously under stocked, but as long as she could microwave something from a can or a box, she was perfectly fine. After the exploding chicken incident, her college roommates had held a Serious Discussion about whether Kaoru should even be allowed to use the microwave again, but after Shura had pointed out that the option was having Kaoru try to actually cook something, they had unanimously voted to let her continue. And then they had given her the microwave when all of the kitchen stuff had gotten divided up once they graduated.

After enjoying the night's chicken breast with pasta and a sauce that was supposedly reminiscent of long Italian afternoons—although she wasn't sure how, Kaoru went back to her main quandary of the day. Having no illusions about the lifespan of a replacement bike, she didn't even seriously consider buying a new one. She could always take the bus, but that meant she would be waiting for the bus back after school; all things—well, one thing in particular—considered, that seemed like it was a bad idea.

It looked there was only one way out of her current situation. Resolutely, she picked up the phone.

"Hi Meg! Is Sano around?... Thanks." When Sano finally picked up the phone, Kaoru matter-of-factly said, "Sano? Somebody stole my bike; looks like you get your wish of me getting a car. Can I borrow yours for a couple of days until I get this straightened out?"

Sano sounded genuinely upset, "Somebody _stole_ your bike? Why would anybody want to steal _your_ bike?" Realizing how that sounded, he quickly amended, "Not that there's anything wrong with your bike that would make people not want to steal... I mean, um... hey, Missy, I thought that neighborhood was supposed to be safe! Are you sure you're all right there?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes, remembered he couldn't see her exasperated gesture over the phone, and annoyedly said, "Sano, the neighborhood is _fine_, I think it was probably just...just a stupid prank, ok?" _'A stupid demonic prank that is one more thing on my list of Reasons to Kill Kenshin, Preferably Soon.'_

"Well, if you're sure..." he said, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Sano, my bike aside, may I _please _borrow your car? And would you have time to go look at some used cars this Saturday if I went through the classifieds first and narrowed it down to about five options that fit my budget? Please?"

"Yes, you can use my car until you can get a decent one of your own. I can just hitch a ride with the Fox until you're set, even if it takes a couple of weeks for you to find something. Don't go thinking I'm going to let one of my best friends get stuck with some lemon." He hesitated, and Kaoru could tell he wasn't sure exactly how to continue. "Kaoru... do you need... I mean, what's your car budget look like nowadays?"

Kaoru couldn't blame him for asking, but her reply was still slightly acerbic as she said, "Sano, how long have I been saving up to get a car now?"

"Um... since you got your license?"

"Exactly. Plus I got a nice graduation gift from Dr. Genzai that went straight into the automotive piggybank. I mean, I'm not looking for something new here, or something with heated seats and a little computer that tells you where you're suppose to be driving; I just want a basic first car that isn't going to fall apart on me for the next couple of years. That should be doable, right?"

"Absolutely! No worries, Missy, just leave it to your friendly neighborhood Sano! Look, I'll get Megumi and we'll drop my car off over at your place in a little bit, ok? That way you can have it for tomorrow."

"Thanks, Sano! I owe you!"

His grin was almost palpable over the phone line. "You bet, Missy! Anytime!"

It took about a half-hour before she heard Sano's distinctive knock on her door. Taking off her dish gloves, Kaoru yelled, "Coming! Hang on, Sano!" and went to answer it.

"Hey there! Megumi said she'd be over in a little bit; she had a couple of errands she wanted to run before the stores closed."

"Come on in, Sano! Have a seat! Can I get you something to drink? In the sense of tea, coffee, juice, or water?" Kaoru asked cheerfully. Since their phone conversation, it had occurred to her that Sano's visit could be useful for more than just getting his car, and she was actually glad that Megumi wasn't downstairs waiting for him to just drop the keys off and then leave.

"Well... I suppose I could use a glass of water. Proper hydration and all that," Sano replied with a grin.

"Coming right up!" As she was bringing the glass into the living room, Kaoru casually said, "So, what have the two of you been up to since helping me move in? Anything interesting that I'm likely to read about in the morning papers one of these days?"

"Hey! That only happened once, and it wasn't my fault!" Sano said, sounding injured.

'_Ok, slightly off-balance, that's good, now for the tricky part...'_

"Whatever you say, Sano. Oh, speaking of me moving, tell Megumi to thank that friend of hers when she sees him, ok?"

Sano blinked. "What friend... oh, you mean Kenshin? I can tell her, but Kenshin's actually a friend of mine, not so much of Megumi's."

The majority of people in Kaoru's life would have believed the innocent look that she gave Sano, complete with wide eyes and a moment of blinking in embarrassment at her error. "Oh... sorry, Sano; I just thought... isn't he one of Megumi's friends from the hospital?"

"No," corrected Sano, "Kenshin is one of my friends from school. He and I go way back."

"One of your reprobate friends from high school or one of your reprobate friends from college? I mean, does the man have an actual profession, or live off the land, or his enormous trust fund or what?" She hoped that her tone was suitably light and joking to come off as teasing Sano rather than asking actual questions.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest, Missy? See something you like the other day?"

This time her blinking was for real. "No! Of course not!" _'Oh, crap; just what I needed, the rooster thinks I'm trying to pump him for information on Kenshin... which I am, but not because of anything like ­that­_..' "I'm just teasing you, Sano; when was the last time that _you_ had a reputable friend?"

'_Please buy that, please buy that, please buy that...'_ she thought frantically.

"I have lots of reputable friends!" Sano protested.

"I think that you just have different standards of reputability. Reputableness. Um... different ideas about who counts as reputable," Kaoru retorted. Fortunately, before Sano could go back to the subject of why Kaoru was asking about Kenshin, there was a delicate knock on the door indicating Megumi's arrival.

"Hi, Kaoru. I'm just here to pick up the Rooster, I can't stay," Megumi said, "Sano, don't forget to leave your car keys here for Kaoru to use."

Sano looked somewhat sheepish as he pulled the keys from his pocket. "Oops... Thanks, Meg. I probably would have forgotten..."

"... which would have defeated the entire purpose of loaning Kaoru your car, I know. Hence my timely reminder." Megumi finished primly.

"I knew I keep you around for more than just your gorgeous body," Sano said with a broad grin. He ducked away from Megumi's swat, failed to avoid the pillow Kaoru threw at him and let out a slight yelp as it connected with his backside.

"Hey, Missy, what was that for?"

"Almost forgetting the keys and/or implying that you're the one keeping Megumi rather than her being the one who puts up with you," Kaoru answered cheerfully.

Before Sano could come up with a response other than opening his mouth and taking a deep breath, Megumi had latched onto his arm and was dragging him towards the door while enumerating the various things that she still had to get done that evening before turning in and getting a good night's sleep before a long day at the clinic.

After they left, Kaoru put Sano's glass in the sink with her other dishes and went over to where she had put the books she was using for demon-related research. She had decided to work her way through them and make notes of things that might be important. On the first page of her notebook, she had already made a list of demonic qualities that Kenshin had shown, so that she would have something to compare what she was reading to: glowing amber eyes, demonic strength and speed, presumably demonic tracking ability since he'd found her in the closet without any trouble after tracking her through the school (she had a parenthetical notation concerning supernatural senses in general in relation to tracking ability), preternatural skills with a sword and no discernable moral qualms about massacring a bunch of high school students, and enjoying the taste of blood. She had also written "Fangs?" since she still wasn't quite sure whether she had seen them or not. Given the way his jeans had fit back then... and, she admitted, still did, she thought it was highly unlikely that he had a tail, so she didn't write that down.

'_Ok, possible fangs and licking the blood off his hand, to which I still say, 'eww!' aside, have already decided that he is not a vampire, because... well, classic symptoms of vampires seem to be outbreaks of anemia and students slowly looking paler and paler and showing up at their neighbors' second-story windows at night claiming to be hungry, not a single massacre after hours. Besides which, if he was a vampire, he probably would have tried to kill people in a way that wouldn't waste all that blood...'_

Leafing through a book of Japanese mythology, Kaoru dismissed the idea that Kenshin could be a _gaki_, the Japanese equivalent of a vampire. Not only had he not drunk blood, he'd shown no sign of eating the bodies of the students he'd killed. _'Although I suppose he could be a soul-eating gaki... how do you tell if somebody's been munching on filet of soul, anyway...'_ She wrote "Soul-eater?" in her notebook and went on with her research.

Even though she'd known from the beginning that she really didn't have a lot of information to go on, Kaoru still felt annoyed at how little useful information she was able to glean from the books she'd gotten from the school library.

'_Clearly an area where we need to expand our holdings... hmm... Incubus? Well, that would involve... .'_ Reading the rest of the description, Kaoru went bright red and uttered a faint squeak. _'That... he... well, I'm glad that he's shown no sign of being... that... Anyway, moving on.. .'_

There was nothing useful in Greek mythology, although Kaoru suspected that might be because the book focused on gods and goddesses and their misadventures rather than anything that might be described as demonic. And, no matter what some of the cheerleaders at New East Capitol might have believed prior to their unfortunate demise, Kaoru refused to believe that Kenshin was in any way a Greek god.

Several hours and an equal number of books later, Kaoru sighed and put down her pen. She hated it when the best option she could think of off the top of her head failed to work. Looking over to her desk, she thought about trying to do a quick web search, but wasn't sure that that would result in anything other than a slew of sites with more or less reputable content and opinions about demons or demonic weapons. Without more specific information, she didn't want to dive into the Internet for fear that she'd never surface again and be found years later, covered in cobwebs and staring at her computer screen.

The only reference point that she could think of that might help was Kenshin's sword, if she could dig it out from where she'd hidden it, peel the paper charms off of it, and examine it very closely for any kind of specific mystical symbols or "if found, return to" labels. She briefly considered the idea of trying to figure out a way to inspect Kenshin for mystical symbols or labels, but discarded it as soon as it crossed her mind.

Absent-mindedly tapping her pen against the notepad, Kaoru considered the idea of retrieving the sword and using it to get a lead on Kenshin. Or possibly kill him. There were times- like that morning, for example- when she really regretted she hadn't used his sword on him when she'd first picked it up; it would have been the sensible thing to do, just to make sure. She sighed. Under the circumstances, she had done well to act as rationally as she had; no use crying over spilt... whatever.

The drawback to fetching Kenshin's sword was that it seemed an awful lot like doing his work for him. He knew where she lived, he'd been there one morning already, and she doubted that she could carry around a large sword-shaped package and claim that it was a bassoon in clever disguise. And once all the charms were removed so that she could inspect, photograph, scan, or sketch the sword, she had the strongest suspicion that Kenshin would be able to track his sword the way he'd tracked her in the school.

Sighing as she looked at the clock and noticed the hour, Kaoru put her pen down, stretched out the kinks in her neck and shoulders and got up to get ready to go to bed. The entire question of Kenshin's sword and what she might or might not be able to do with it in order to figure out his identity would have to wait for another day. She wondered if she could find any kind of class project-related reason to borrow an x-ray machine or something similar from the university and then try to take a picture of the sword without removing the charms. Although then she'd have to explain to her father, brother, _and_ Mr. Fujita why she needed to bring an x-ray machine into her bedroom.

Probably not the best plan, then.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Kaoru did a last check to make sure she had everything ready for the next morning, set the coffee maker to automatic, and changed into her pajamas. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep full of vague and complicated plans to bring her grandfather to the university to put charms on the x-ray machine so that Mr. Fujita wouldn't notice it being brought into her bedroom.

And the moonlight shining through her window where the curtains didn't quite meet fell on her peaceful face as she slept.

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter is shorter than I wanted, but it was the best place to break between chapters. Sadly, next week's update will be a bit late, as I am out of town starting tomorrow until a week from Monday. Sad but true. It's also the reason why this chapter is so short.

And, the fabulous Pego has drawn a very funny piece of fanart from Chapter 5. It's at Deviant Art on her page, listed under "Scraps"—the link is: http:www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/deviation/15375291/. So, check it out!

In this chapter I do not own: Lychee-flavored yogurt, since I ate it... yeah... probably won't be getting that again anytime soon... I also still don't own "Muppet Treasure Island," don't own "Police Squad," the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie, or Chris Rea's "The Road to Hell (Part 2)" (the source of the title quote).

Reviewer Responses: (Quick, because I have to pack and get some sleep and various other pre-trip things...) Thank you so much to everybody who has been reviewing! It's great to read all of your responses, and it also helps give me ideas about what I could include, or areas which I need to make clearer. I am so happy that people are enjoying this story. And, as you see, Kaoru does finally get in some research time! Didn't come up with a solution, but she is trying.

Dragonspirit4215: So happy that you like Kaoru's characterization! I did really try to make her "modern," since she grew up in the modern US rather than Meiji Japan, but also wanted to keep her true to her manga/anime roots.

FantasyAngelVictoria: Well, Kaoru did go by car today, didn't she.. didn't seem to make her happy, though. -) At least she seems to have a plan for how to deal with the situation from now on. Hmm.. Kenshin and Kaoru's perfectly innocuous supervising teacher knowing each other? Whatever gave you that idea?

JBella: I would say that Kenshin REALLY didn't like the idea of Kaoru riding her bike back and forth to work. And did not hesitate to show it. Glad that you like the casting of Kaoru's boss! It was a fun choice.

Linay: Thank you! So glad that you are reading this! I'm happy that you like the interior monologues; this is a story where people do a lot of thinking in addition to the talking, and I try to make sure that it's still readable and clear who is saying or thinking what.

Triste1: No, I really do like long reviews. -) And when I review things, I tend to write long reviews, so that works out. And, um.. in terms of the stalking.. you can camp out next to the attack squirrels that are also there to ensure prompt and consistent updating.


	9. Like Any Uncharted Territory

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter Nine: Like Any Uncharted Territory

* * *

Considering the way that her life had been going lately, Kaoru really shouldn't have been surprised to be kidnapped right out of school the minute classes were over. Glaring at one of her captors, she said, "You do realize that I'll be missed, right? I am supposed to be meeting with Mr. Fujita later this afternoon after he's done with coaching and the faculty meeting, and if I'm not there, there will be hell to pay. By which I mean that the two of _you_ will have hell to pay."

"That's why we're bribing you in advance with coffee and double-chocolate brownies," Misao said complacently as she sank into one of the comfortable oversized purple velvet chairs in The Fateful Bean. Megumi, sipping her cappuccino, nodded assent.

'_This is what happens when your friends know your weaknesses too well...'_ Kaoru thought to herself. Giving in, she said, "Fine. I accept your bribes in the spirit in which they are given, if and only if you promise that you will have me back to school in time for my meeting. Because if I'm late, I'm telling him that it's your fault, and then I'm giving him your addresses."

Having met Mr. Fujita, both of the other girls understood the seriousness of the threat. Kaoru relaxed slightly. She had already come perilously close to being caught scribbling things like "Japanese demon? Hair/eye color problematic, but explanation for sword-fighting nickname origins?" and "Aztec—read up on sacrifice techniques" in her Dayplanner during the test, and she really didn't want another potential black mark on her record. The test itself had gone well, by which she meant that there had been minimal groans and nasty looks from the students.

Actually, in Mr. Fujita's classroom, nobody dared to give nasty looks no matter how bad the tests were.

Since he had other obligations immediately after school, her supervisor had brusquely told her to check to make sure that everybody's test had been turned in, circle the names of those who had missed it, and divide the papers into two equal piles so that they could be taken home and graded. It wasn't that much work... as long as crazed friends didn't drag you off for coffee and gossip halfway through the tabulation process.

On the other hand, there was nothing wrong with taking the time to catch up with friends, and Kaoru had made a promise to herself not to let her new work responsibilities interfere with maintaining the few close friendships she had. And since this was some of the best coffee in the city... Kaoru let out a happy sigh as she sipped.

"So, I've been reading this book," Misao started, and the other two women looked at each other in a brief moment of shared apprehension. Misao's reading choices tended to be eclectic, to put it kindly, and you were never quite sure what was going to result when you heard that particular sentence coming out of her mouth.

"Oh... really... " Kaoru ventured cautiously when it became clear that the reason Megumi had ordered a large cappuccino was so that she could use it to avoid conversation if she chose.

"Time-travel romance," Misao said, nodding, "Modern girl goes back two hundred years, give or take, and ends up in Regency England. Lots of intrigue and aristocrats."

"Is it any good?" Megumi asked with interest. Good romances were one of the composed doctor's recreational weaknesses, and she had a particular fondness for historically-themed stories.

Misao made a sour face. "The comedy is, sadly, _not_ on purpose. General theme of "Behold, I am an Enlightened Modern Woman and will demonstrate it by ripping my _own_ bodice rather than waiting for the rakish hero to do it for me!" and enough historical errors that even _I_ got distracted by them. Only good thing about it is that the sex scenes are many and various. At the moment the heroine is being ravished on a snooker table."

"Snooker?" Kaoru giggled, raising one eyebrow, "As in, Trouble with a Capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for "Snooker"? That kind of table?"

Shrugging, Misao said, "Why not? It's a large, flat surface, it's got felt on it..."

"Um...well... I guess you could have sex on a pool table, if you could manage to keep the balls from getting in the way," Kaoru said speculatively, then looked up as Misao made a choking noise. "What?"

Recovering, Misao managed, "No, sorry; I... um... swallowed wrong. Too much cinnamon in the milk foam. Anyway, Megumi, I only brought it up because now I feel the need to wash my brain out with a _good_ Regency romance and wanted some recommendations from you."

"Duly noted," Megumi replied, "Actually, if you swing by later today, I can lend you some things. I'm going to be at my place tonight because I have the early shift tomorrow and Sano's closing the bar tonight."

"How is the bar business lately anyway?" Kaoru asked. She and Misao had met Sano when he was working as a bouncer for a less-than-reputable bar and dance club downtown. After dropping out of high school to travel around the world, picking up bits and pieces of languages and assorted skills from the odd jobs he took to support himself, he'd ended up staying and then persuading his friend Katsu to buy out the bar with him when the old owner had retired. Personally, Kaoru wasn't sure if Sano had been sick of travel, or if it had been the fact that he'd met Megumi that had made him more willing to settle down.

"The bar business is noisy, smoky, and full of idiots. And that's just the office." Megumi said with a sigh.

Picking up a brownie, Misao asked, "Are they still arguing about who gets to go get a business degree? And have either of them figured out it was your idea in the first place?"

Kaoru stifled a laugh. She had never been able to figure out how exactly Megumi had managed to convince Sano and Katsu that a business degree was something that one of them needed to have in order to help make the bar more successful, although she suspected hypnotic suggestion or possibly something slipped into their beer. Sano had gotten his GED back when he was still a bouncer; in fact, Misao and Kaoru had helped him study for it, and he had then gone on to community college. The argument about the business degree always ended up with Sano claiming that he had had enough school already, and Katsu pointing out that his journalism degree automatically meant that it was his destined role to sit in the back of the room and ask professors awkward questions about ethics and regulation enforcement, not kiss up to them in his quest to get a degree.

"Well, when last I left them, they were in the middle of an intense and thought-provoking debate about which "Batman" movie was the best."

"'Mask of the Phantasm,'" Kaoru and Misao said simultaneously.

Megumi blinked. "You know, sometimes I find myself wondering how on earth you and Sano ended up such good friends, and then a moment like this comes along."

"No, no," Kaoru assured her, "Sano remains loyal to the movie version of the 1960s TV show... which I have to admit is hysterically funny, and chock full of campy goodness and skewed screen shots. But nothing beats "Phantasm.""

"Katsu was arguing for the one with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson."

Misao snorted around a mouthful of brownie, "The one where Kim Basinger spends half her time screaming like an idiot? I don't think so. And Mark Hamill is a much better Joker. Although," she conceded as she licked her fingers, "I may just feel that way because I like the visuals in the animated version better."

"I was thinking more along the lines of moments when I know that all three of you are insane," Megumi murmured.

"You think I'm crazy?" Misao declared, her eyes sparkling.

"What rot, sir! Why, you're the very model of sanity. Oh by the way, I pressed your tights and put away your exploding gas balls," Kaoru quipped in her best fake British accent.

The two girls burst into giggles, more because Megumi looked like she wanted to disavow all knowledge of them than at the quote itself. It was always fun to see how quickly they could get Megumi to have that expression when they were all out together. Misao's record was just under thirty seconds.

"One of these days I'm going to remember to bring a gavel whenever I'm out with you two, just so that I can get the conversation back on track," the young doctor muttered, "Or possibly so that I can hit you. I'm a doctor; I know where many important pressure points are located."

"Sorry, Megumi!" Kaoru said, still giggling slightly. "Umm... what were we talking about?"

"Whether or not Sano and Katsu have decided what to do about one of them getting a business degree. I think that it's going to end up being Sano, just because Katsu's spare time is taken up with that community newsletter he's been trying to get off the ground. Anyway, if the two of you felt like casually mentioning that you think a business degree would be a good idea when you see him again, I would appreciate it."

"What, you mean sidle up to him and give him our best Mae West-style, 'I love a man with an advanced degree in accounting' look?" Misao teased.

"No," Megumi returned, "Just, you know, if the subject comes up, or if you're talking about work, then, you know, ask him about the business aspects of running a bar or something." She sipped her drink again and took a brownie in one perfectly-manicured hand. "Cunning schemes don't work half so well if the other person knows it's a scheme, Misao. You need to be subtle about these things."

"Would it be sufficiently subtle for me to point at the clock and make an observation about when that faculty meeting was supposed to be over?" Kaoru asked. "I still have some crucial tabulation and alphabetizing to take care of. The fate of the free world may depend upon it, or at least my personal fate for the rest of the week."

Misao sighed. "Fine, just give us five minutes to demolish the last brownie and finish the coffee, ok? Then we will return you to the blackboard jungle, I will raid Megumi's romance novel collection for something decent, and I will see you on Friday. Does that work?"

"Yes, that would be fine. Thanks, guys; I really appreciate the break." That was very true; in addition, she had to admit to herself that coffee with Megumi and Misao was a welcome breath of normality in her life, something that helped keep her grounded in the face of recent demonic aggravation. As long as her friends and relations could still kidnap her for coffee, nothing could be that horribly out of balance with her world.

* * *

The meeting with Mr. Fujita had taken somewhat longer than she had hoped, but it had gone fairly well nonetheless. Her supervisor apparently had some arcane system that he used to divide up the grading work; it wasn't exactly alphabetical, but seemed to be based on ensuring that every student would get graded by both of them a certain number of times during the school year. She wasn't entirely sure, but she also suspected that he had wanted to make sure that she didn't get stuck with any real problem students for the first major exam. She could understand that, as long as she got to work with everybody eventually. Kaoru sighed as she looked at the stack of papers on her desk. Now she just had to order her traditional "I've got tests to grade" Chinese take-out for dinner, and prepare to spend a quiet evening at home with the answer key and her red pen.

Ah, the exciting life of an assistant teacher.

She hummed to herself as she left the classroom, locking it carefully behind her. Not that she thought anybody would break in; who on earth would try to break into a...

"You know," a calm voice said from over by another door, "you seem to have the strangest habit of staying late at school."

She jerked her head up with a start. Kenshin was leaning against the door across the hallway, giving her a look that was somewhere between amused and speculative.

"It's not that late, and I work here," she retorted, "Unlike some people, who have no reason to be in the building."

Answering her unspoken question, Kenshin said, "Well, I had some work to do in the neighborhood."

"Work?" Kaoru interrupted. "What do you mean, you had work to do?"

He shrugged. "Various things that I need to take care of. At the moment it's mostly tracking some things down that I need for later. Anyway, I saw that Sano's car happened to be in the parking lot. Since I figured that he was unlikely to be here, it made sense that it was you."

"Well, now that you've solved that mystery, you can go to... wherever you go when you're not breaking into public buildings." Kaoru retorted. _'Tracking some things down... and now he's here... This is a different school building, so he can't have thought that I hid the sword here in the first place... what did he think, that I would have brought the sword to work with me, the better to keep the students in line? Clearly, he has never met my supervisor, because then he would realize that any intimidation from me would be entirely superfluous... '_

Considering her options, Kaoru had to conclude that this had the potential for being a very bad situation. Alone, with a demon, in school... again... and at any minute, he was probably going to start interrogating her with questions like...

"Can I help you carry anything?" Kenshin asked, breaking her train of thought.

She blinked. Had he just asked... "No," Kaoru said, looking at him in confusion.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you have plans for dinner already?"

"Do I... _what?_" Kaoru demanded, aghast. This was taking things too far, acting as if he was... just because he wanted to get his sword back; flowers were one thing, even magical reappearing flowers, but this... this was...

"Listen, you... you... " she found that she was too angry to put together a good insult. Stalking across the hallway, she brandished the test papers at him. He made no response except to raise one eyebrow as she yelled at him, eyes flashing.

"I don't appreciate this! I don't appreciate _any_ of... of the idiotic things that you've been doing, trying to act as if you're..." She was so close now that she could see the way his eyes were sparking amber, and she was having a very hard time not whacking him over the head with the stack of tests she was carrying.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but she ignored him and continued her rant.

"You...you suddenly show up, in the company of one of my _friends_, and now...now you seem to think that I'm some sort of idiot who will just start fluttering her eyelashes at you like those morons back in high school..."

"I don't think that you're..."

"_YES YOU DO!_" Kaoru knew that she was yelling, but she didn't care. The stress of this week, the revival of things she'd thought long-buried, literally and figuratively, the nervousness of not knowing what was going to happen next... she really didn't care how loud she was. "I know _exactly_ what you're after, and, let me tell you, you are not going..."

There was no warning; between one breath and the next, Kaoru suddenly found herself pressed against the door Kenshin had oh-so-casually been leaning against, his hands on her upper arms, his body leaning towards hers so that she was fairly well pinned. She could feel the warmth of him, could practically feel the beating of his heart he was so close...

He was leaning against her, his long red bangs falling forward against her skin. Kaoru jerked in startlement as she felt his breath against her neck.

"No," Kenshin breathed, "I really don't think that you have any idea, kitten... no idea at all..."

Kaoru opened her mouth to say something, but all words left her as Kenshin delicately ran his tongue along the pulse that beat steadily in her neck before placing his lips there, running a series of light kisses up the arch of her throat. Her breath caught as he returned to the base of her neck, this time oh-so-delicately using his teeth in a way that made the pulse under his mouth jump.

If it hadn't been for the solidity of the door behind her, Kaoru was sure her head would have fallen all the way back, and she really had no idea what, other than the firm weight of Kenshin pressed against her, was keeping her upright.

She tried to say his name, but what emerged was more of a faint, hungry whimpering noise, a sound she hadn't even known she could make before. She could feel Kenshin's smile curving against her neck at the sound of it, then he planted one final, nibbling line of kisses down to the hollow at the base of her throat, where he lingered briefly, memorizing its contours with his tongue as she stifled a gasp.

When he pulled back, she blinked up at him with dazed eyes, noting the way his own had darkened to a rich amber color, the way that Kenshin too was breathing hard as he looked at her.

They stood there for a moment, and she honestly couldn't have said what would have happened next, what she wanted to happen next, when the noise of a group of students leaving the gym broke the moment. Kenshin backed away with the same suddenness as his earlier movements, and Kaoru, after a moment when she realized she had no idea what to do, no clue what to say and, above all, no desire for the students who were about to turn the corner to see her like this, did the only thing she could think of.

She bolted.

* * *

Once the students had gone, Kenshin stepped out of the shadows he had hidden himself in.

He could still taste her skin on his tongue, sweetness and fire and jasmine, could almost still sense the feel of her pulse as it leapt against his mouth.

It wasn't something that he had planned, this encounter, as much as it was something he had wanted for such a very long time.

Somehow, Kenshin found it very hard to regret his actions, even though he logically knew that they might cause him problems in the near future.

'_It was still worth it,'_ he thought with a faint smile as he exited the school and headed out into the darkness.

He had, after all, always been excited by the thought of a challenge.

Now, to decide what his next move should be...

Kenshin's thoughts were interrupted by an insistent and cheerful ringing noise that he eventually identified as coming from his jacket pocket, from a phone that he knew hadn't been there when he'd headed over to the school. He pulled the cell phone out and raised one eyebrow as he saw the number listed on the screen.

Sighing reluctantly, he flipped the phone open and said, "You know, if you wanted me to get a cell phone, you could have just asked instead of... Yes. Starting tomorrow. What? No, it won't. No, I _really_ don't think that... Yes, Master, of course I know...No, you don't have to tell me again... " Finally giving up, Kenshin settled for making occasional affirmative noises as the man on the other end of the phone continued his monologue, ignoring Kenshin's annoyed tone of voice as smoothly as he'd ignored his words earlier. At the end of the conversation, when a longer pause indicated that it was time for him to respond, Kenshin said, "I wouldn't expect it to take more than a week... yes, I know how important... yes, I'll report back to you when there are any further developments..." Opening his mouth to say something else, Kenshin closed it abruptly as he realized that he had been hung up on.

Well, that had definitely killed whatever mood he'd been in. Kenshin idly wondered what would happen if he "accidentally" put the phone under the car's wheels and ran over it. Probably another aggravated phone call as soon as he'd managed to fall asleep. Every night for the next month or so.

Sometimes, he thought, his Master could be ridiculously petty. Not that he would ever say that out loud, of course.

As he drove out of the parking lot, Kenshin went back to mentally running over the list of things he had to take care of in the next several days. He had gotten a good portion of it out of the way that afternoon, and as long as he got up early enough the next morning, he should be able to keep things moving along right on schedule. Well, he amended, feeling the way Kaoru's taste and scent still lingered on his lips, mostly on schedule. Then again, every good plan needed a certain degree of flexibility.

Right now, he decided, he needed to go over to the bar and talk with Sano.

It was time to call in a favor or two.

* * *

Kaoru didn't think that she had ever driven back to her apartment as fast as she did after she'd bolted out of the school. Although, since technically she'd just moved into her new apartment, and had only had a car for two days, there really wasn't much to compare it with.

What was definite, though, was the way that the tires on Sano's car were squealing whenever she rounded a corner, and the fact that she got home a good ten minutes sooner than normal.

As she practically ran up the stairs, Kaoru found that she had to slow down and catch her breath, which was still leaning more towards panting than normal breathing. Taking several slow, cleansing breaths, Kaoru closed her eyes and worked on centering herself and calming down.

'_I expected that Kenshin would go for the jugular, but I didn't think that that meant he would...well... that hadn't been what I... I mean, that's not supposed to be the sort of thing...'_

Clearly, the cleansing breaths weren't working, and she was going to have to move on to something else. The tests were dumped onto her desk as Kaoru moved into the kitchen in search of something she could wreak culinary havoc with. Cooking would require all of her concentration and eating the results would distract her from her other troubles. Unfortunately, all she really had in the apartment were things that could be heated up in the microwave. Shopping for groceries, unsurprisingly, hadn't been a high priority since she'd moved in.

As she watched her TV dinner spinning around slowly in the microwave, Kaoru tried another set of cleansing breaths and tried to work through what had just happened.

'_Ok... Kenshin came to school, supposedly because he just happened to be in the neighborhood and spotted Sano's car. I think that we can safely assume that to be a lie...or at least less of a coincidence than he was trying to make it sound like. He knows where I work... and where I live... so if he was looking for me, Sano's car would in fact have been a good indication as to where I was. '_

The microwave interrupted her thoughts with a series of insistent beeps, and Kaoru carefully took out her dinner and carried it over to her usual perch on the couch. It was a TV dinner, after all, and so she felt the need to enjoy it in its natural habitat.

Channel surfing turned up nothing of interest, so she eventually settled on a random home decorating program as good background noise while she continued to work through the evening's events.

'_Kenshin kissed me. Well, sort of. Well, definitely, just not on the lips, I guess. Which makes no sense, because kissing me means that he wasn't asking questions or making threats..._

_Why wasn't he asking questions or making threats? Not that he could have expected that I would tell him anything, even under threat of various painful things, but I would have thought he would have at least tried rather than acting like...'_

Suddenly, her eyes widening, Kaoru yelled, "Kenshin, you rat bastard!" Looking down, she realized that her outburst had resulted in Alfredo sauce splattering across the coffee table. Glaring at her fork as if it was responsible for her current problems, Kaoru put it down and went to get a paper towel.

She gritted her teeth. Kenshin was... was... _unbelievable_!

'_That.. that... .treating me like I'm some kind of Bond film bimbo, and all he needs to do is back me into a corner and breath on me and I'll just melt at his feet and suddenly do anything he wants me to do, and give up the location of the secret headquarters or new super-weapon or.. or... well, I mean, except for the fact that Bond, James Bond is the good guy, and the women he seduces to get answers are usually working for the bad guys, or at least dating them, and I don't even know anybody who owns a white Persian cat... And in this case, it's a bad guy trying to seduce the location of the secret weapon out of one of the good guys. Which he is not going to get. Because I am now aware of his strategy, and, as Megumi said, cunning schemes don't work if the other person knows about them...'_

Her spine stiffened with a new resolution, Kaoru determinedly cleaned off the coffee table and finished her dinner.

She had been prepared for threats and interrogations and possible painful attempts on Kenshin's part to discover what she had done with the sword she had taken away. Just because he had decided on a... _different_ approach to solving his weapons problem didn't change her determination. Not even a little bit. And if he thought that it had... well, he was going to be in for a shock.

She, Kaoru Kamiya, Assistant Master of the Kamiya Kasshin School, was not the sort of girl who could be intimidated, threatened, and certainly _not_ seduced into helping the forces of evil, especially cute red-haired forces of evil who brought her flowers and stole her bicycle after she'd already had to kill them once.

And, with a resolute nod, Kaoru took her dishes over to the sink.

No matter what he tried, she could handle it.

Because she knew what Kenshin was capable of.

And there was no way she was going to allow it to happen again.

No matter what.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi! I'm back! Bwa ha ha! I had a good trip, although I came back more tired than when I left, and hope to return to regularly-scheduled updates. Until my next trip, in a couple of weeks. As part of which, oddly enough, I will be visiting the same city I visited last week, along with some other places (familial Grand Tour-type expedition...).

In this chapter I do not own: The song "Trouble (with a capital "T")" from "The Music Man, or, sadly, "Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm," which was the full-length movie from "Batman: The Animated Series," released back in the early 1990s. It's out on DVD, and I highly recommend it. Really. It is just beautifully done, in terms of both the writing and the visuals. I also don't own the wacky, wacky 1966 "Batman" movie, which is...well, the sort of movie where Our Stalwart Heroes are saved from death by helicopter crash because there's a store that happens to be having a giant parking-lot clearance sale on foam rubber. Nor do I own a white Persian cat, or any of the Bond films where Ernst Bloefeld, head of SPECTRE, drags his around with him. And I don't own Alannis Morrisette's song "Uninvited," where the chapter title comes from. With all these things I don't own, it's amazing how cluttered my apartment gets.

Note: The GED is the equivalency test/degree that you can take in lieu of getting your high school diploma in the U.S.

Next Chapter: Having finally read the story summary, Kaoru threatens the author with her bokken in order to get it changed. Doesn't help.

Reviewer Responses: Whee! Over two hundred reviews! Wow! Dance of Joy (which I also don't own... bows Joss Whedan-wards...). Hi to all the folks who are reading this story; great to have you here, and to get comments and feedback and questions. And, I love the fact that people who usually avoid AU and especially high school AU are enjoying this story as well. I am _trying_ not to make the characters too OOC, with allowances made for things like modern America rather than nineteenth-century Japan. And of course the demons running around.

Annony44: I think that Kaoru felt like she didn't have any other options—considering how scary her supervising teacher is and all, the risk of demonic interrogation seemed like the lesser of two evils. And, glad that you appreciate the cliffhanger!

Dendrodium: Glad that you've found "Moonlight"! And that you like the characterizations and pacing. I'm so glad that you don't think it drags or skips things. Since I kind of know what things look like in my head, I always hope that I write down enough so that people understand what's going on and so on but not so much that it gets boring.

DragonLadyRM: grins Kaoru continues to consider possibilities in terms of what Kenshin is... still concentrating on that sword, though.

goldmund: Well, Kaoru apparently assumed that there was some sort of spell on the roses, not that Kenshin was breaking in. Since he wasn't lurking in the apartment, or around the complex, and since nothing else seemed to have gotten disturbed... the roses by themselves were annoying/disturbing enough without contemplating Kenshin being in her apartment. I think she would have expected him to leave a threatening note or something...

Honoo-chan: bows at the introduction Glad to have you here!

lolo popoki: You just know that Kaoru was imagining horrible things happening to Kenshin the whole time she was destroying the roses... And, yes, I have found lychee-flavored yogurt. Um.. it's lychee and something else and is just generally kind of odd.

Kat Morning: Hmm.. no, I don't know that chant. Please do translate!

Ki Kamiya: Does this chapter help? grins He definitely had screen time...

KouUsa: Hmmm... hadn't thought of having Kaoru put charms all over her bedroom and then take the sword out. Interesting idea! slight wince Yes.. I know, I'm trying to fix the scene separation problem. Hope that this chapter is better!

NightxXxshade: Glad that you like Kaoru in this story! I think that she's actually a really strong character in the anime/manga (more in the anime; Watsuki-sensei occasionally doesn't seem to quite know what to do with her in the manga), but she gets overshadowed by the male characters. I mean, a woman alone in nineteenth-century Japan running her own kendo school and going after the guy she thinks is ruining it... that's definite strength. I wanted to write a fanfic where that comes through, rather than having her be a damsel in distress, which seems to happen a lot.

Nekotsuki: Kenshin would probably claim he did it for her own good. And then Kaoru would throw pointy objects at him. In terms of length.. um.. yeah.. I don't think you need to worry about that.

Pego: Thank you; I had a very good trip. Not Austria, Paris, or Switzerland; sorry that you missed out on them! It was very cold, but otherwise nice, and I got to see places I haven't seen in a while (and some new places; gorgeous historical architecture, which I loved) and people I also hadn't seen since last September, which was also great. grins Glad that you like the charisma. grins again It is one of the many things that makes this story fun to write. And it drives Kaoru up a wall, which is another thing which is fun to write. I love long reviews, so feel free to keep writing them!

riceball1004: Thank you! There was a plagarist? I completely missed that... (Has anybody else noticed this?)

Silver Eyes Bright: You are correct—lots of "Buffy"-inspiration behind this. As for the romance-vs-stalker... evil authorial grin We'll just have to wait and see!

Skenshingumi: Thank you for all of your reviews! I am so glad that you like this, and the other stories. Yeah.. the euthanasia joke, sadly, is based on when a student in my high school English teacher's class said they wanted to do a speech in favor of euthanasia because it seemed unfair for them not to have the same rights as youth in the rest of the world. Really.

Strawberry'd: Hmm.. my Japanese is.. well.. let's just say that I once gave somebody the ringing battle slogan of "Kill me now!" so it is entirely possible that "gaki" means brat. However, as far as I know, there is also a Japanese vampire-type monster also called a gaki. Anybody else know anything about this?

Triste1: Well, just keep the squirrels away from your computer, and you should all be able to stalk in peace. I am glad that you like the wit and find it consistent; it's sometimes hard for me to tell if it's staying at pretty much the same amount and level.


	10. Moving Daze

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

Chapter Ten: Moving Daze

* * *

Kaoru woke up the next morning from a very confusing dream in which a fox with her cousin's face had run up and down the trunk of a tree whose roots were made of bones. Yahiko had been juggling teacups, with tea in them, and stridently insisting that he was old enough now to decide if he wanted milk or a lemon slice without any help from the cat. Sano and Katsu were playing badminton with a set of shuttlecocks that Katsu kept insisting were meant for personal defense only. Mr. Fujita, who was supposed to be refereeing the match, was reading a set of encyclopedias in an attempt to find a name for his sword, which glittered with blue sparks along the blade as it lay next to a half-eaten bowl of soba that Kaoru was sure she hadn't cooked. Crows—unless they were ravens—circled overhead, quoting poetry in harsh voices. She knew that there was something important that she was supposed to do, but when she turned around to look at her list, Kenshin, who was sitting cross-legged in a patch of bluebells the colors of his eyes, was making corrections to it with a red pen and wouldn't give it back. When Kaoru had tried to get Megumi to help her, she'd simply flicked fox-ears at her and hidden in the branches, where she'd started making a noise like an alarm clock...

Kaoru blinked sleepily as she re-adjusted to the waking world. It was at times like this that she was glad that she usually didn't remember her dreams. _'Now I'm going to wonder what it is I'm supposed to be doing all day... and bluebells aren't supposed to be golden, darn it, because then they'd be called something else!'_

On the plus side, the scent of fresh coffee was wafting in from the kitchen, just waiting to clear the cobwebs out of her brain. On mornings like this, she liked to take time to quickly drink her first cup before she took a shower. She'd tried to figure out a way to juggle both activities, but after some distressing soapsuds-related incidents, had decided that even those covered, spillproof mugs weren't designed to handle every conceivable circumstance.

'_Now that would be a useful project,'_ Kaoru thought as she hummed to herself and added milk and sugar to her mug, _'Waterproof coffee mugs... or maybe some sort of self-contained pouch with a straw coming out of it... excellent for showers, rainstorms, and scuba-diving expeditions...'_

Looking over her wardrobe, Kaoru immediately grabbed a dark blue turtleneck to wear under her blazer. She felt the need to be as covered up as possible, in case... in case... _certain people_ expected to be able to get away with... _certain things_... She rolled her eyes. _'Great, now I'm so embarrassed that I'm resorting to euphemisms... Idiot. Let's try this again. I am wearing this turtleneck because Kenshin, who I hope I never see again, needs to be sent a clear signal that he can't just... that he's not allowed to... '_

Suddenly, Kaoru found herself remembering the exact specifics of just what her wardrobe was supposed to tell Kenshin that he was not allowed to do, and she barely saved herself from a distressing coffee-related wardrobe incident.

'_Stupid demons and their stupid neck-related habits,'_ she thought grouchily.

It was absolutely unfair that he had done that, she decided. In fact, she was fairly sure it was against some unwritten rule or something. At least, she thought, trying to look on the bright side, she could develop a strategy for future incidents. Not that there were going to be future incidents. Ever.

'_But that doesn't mean that I can't develop a set of strategies as a purely preventive measure to counter any ideas he might have about getting information out of me that way. Like that thing where if you bring along an umbrella, it won't rain, and you'll spend the whole day carrying around an umbrella and feeling like an idiot. I just need to think about what to do if he tries something like that again... without getting caught up in what he did last time... just focus on the violent retribution part, Kaoru...'_

Over breakfast, Kaoru continued her project of looking through the used car ads, circling things that sounded like they weren't going to fall apart the minute she'd gotten them home. She was still planning on borrowing Sano from Megumi on Saturday to check out the top five vehicular candidates, so that she could give his car back to him as soon as possible.

Not that it was a bad car... if you didn't count the bumper stickers... Kaoru had been trying to not think about the bumper stickers while she was driving the car to and from school. In fact, if the bumper hadn't been one of the definitely important parts of the car, she would have considered removing it and leaving it at home.

Putting everything she needed into her bag, Kaoru headed out to the parking lot. She was halfway to the car before she realized that she was automatically glancing around and looking for any sign of red hair...

'_Dammit! Idiot!'_ she thought fiercely, and wasn't even sure if she was referring to him or herself. She rubbed at the side of her neck unconsciously, and decided that she definitely meant him.

It was a load off her mind when she reached school, found a parking space under a tree, where she could back the car into the spot—she generally preferred double spots where she could pull through and then park, but was making an exception as long as she was borrowing Sano's car—and reached her classroom not only punctually enough to suit Mr. Fujita but without being accosted in any way by anybody.

Since it was the day after a test, Mr. Fujita was graciously allowing the fourth period class to spend their period watching a video about the periodic table and atomic structure. The part where they showed why it was a bad idea to mix sodium and water went over particularly well.

One of the other classes was dividing into groups to work on individual projects that would take the rest of the semester, so Kaoru spent the time circulating and checking to make sure that they were talking about things that both reasonably scientific and topical, interrupting several conversations that, while they might be considered to be on the subject of biology, were not really project-related.

After school, while she was straightening out her desk area, Mr. Fujita casually asked, "So, Ms Kamiya, how are the tests so far?"

For several horrified seconds, Kaoru couldn't remember what on earth he was talking about. Fortunately, before her brain could stop it, her mouth had opened and she heard herself say, "Oh, well, about as expected, I guess. I mean, at this point in the semester, you can guess who will review and who won't, and that's reflected in the test scores..."

Meanwhile, Kaoru's brain had scrambled and remembered what tests were being talked about. The tests from yesterday. The ones that she was supposed to be grading last night.

The ones which she could clearly remember flinging down onto the desk as she stomped around her apartment, alternating between thinking of horrible things to do to Kenshin and finding herself unable to forget the things Kenshin had been doing to her.

'_Oh... crap... I didn't do any... I was supposed to... they're due back to him by Friday, and now...'_ she thought disconnectedly. How was she going to explain this if he asked for specific...

"What are your grade statistics working out to be, Ms Kamiya?" Surely, she was imagining that wolfish, knowing gleam in his eyes. It could not possibly be that obvious that her babble had been bluff.

"I... well, actually," she said, struck by inspiration and the memory of her high school English teacher, "I'm reading all of them through before I assign actual grades. Right now, it's more like a set of Post-It Notes stuck all over the tests, with suggested grades. If you want general impressions... I would say, mostly Bs, a couple of As, some Cs... I don't think I'm going to have to fail anybody..." she trailed off, hopefully.

Leaping on her last statement, Mr. Fujita sternly remonstrated, "Nonsense. Ms Kamiya, you have got to learn that bad papers must be dealt with quickly and appropriately. It makes no sense to coddle students, or assume that they're going to learn anything by being overly nice to them. Grade inflation is not a laughing matter! Students nowadays..." he took a deep breath and stopped, clearly bringing himself back under control.

Kaoru stared, and was sure her eyes were wide. _'Oh yes, definitely with a sword...'_ she thought as a fragment of her dream drifted randomly across her memory. Then she remembered the actual topic of conversation.

'_This is probably suicidal, but...'_ Taking a deep breath, she plunged back in. "Yes... I admit that I have trouble being as hard as I probably should when it comes to grading. That's one of the reasons for the Post-It Note system, to make sure that I'm not grading wildly out of sync."

That last part was actually true; while she had yet to implement the fabulous Post-It Note system, courtesy of a brainstorming effort between herself, Misao, and a large pitcher of strawberry daiquiris, it was definitely a plan. For whenever she graded those tests. Which she should have already been doing.

'_Thank goodness they weren't supposed to be completely done today! 'I'm so sorry, Mr. Fujita, but a demon was molesting my neck in the school hallway, and it was...very... very... distracting. And then he stole my pen... except that I might have been dreaming that last part... Whoops, he's started talking again...'_

"...Friday and we can go over any tests you're uncertain about before I look all of them over over the weekend."

Kaoru nodded, relieved that the subject seemed to be closed and she had not gotten detention. Or... well, whatever non-detention things happened to assistant teachers who failed to complete assignments.

* * *

As she pulled into her apartment complex parking lot after work,eyes searching for another spot she could back into and mentally chanting Sano's name so that she would remember to call him to set up a car-shopping time as soon as she got home, she was startled to see Sano himself strolling out of the building. 

'_Oh, great, I'm hallucinating roosters again... the stuff that's been going on must be affecting me more than I realized '_ she thought before Sano waved and called her name and headed over to where she was parking.

"Hey, missy! Just getting home from work?" he asked.

"What gives it away? The briefcase? Or the professional-but-not-stuffy outfit that your girlfriend dragged me through five stores to find last Fall?" Kaoru retorted. "What are you doing here in the middle of the day, Sano? Umm... do you need your car back?"

He turned with her and started walking back towards the complex with her, slowing his long strides to match her own.

"Nah, don't worry... you've got it until you get your own, not a problem. I'm here because, once again, I've gotten recruited for moving duty."

Kaoru giggled slightly at the put-upon expression on his face, because he was so obviously faking it. "Well, feel free to stop by for tea and whatever I can throw together afterwards. Or we can order Chinese, if you'd rather... unless whoever you're moving has already promised pizza and beverages, in which case, I might haul a couple of boxes myself just so I don't have to cook. Who is it, another of Megumi's friends?"

"Nope, for once this is not one of Megumi's med school buddies. In fact, it's..."

Before he could finish, a cheerful, "Hey! Sano! Kaoru!" rang out from near a small moving van Kaoru hadn't seen when she pulled in.

Kenshin was standing there, grinning and holding a fishtank.

Kaoru stopped short, suddenly feeling as if all the air had been forced out of her lungs.

"So..." she said, trying to keep her voice level. It had to be... there was no way... "Kenshin got recruited for moving duty again, too?"

Sano chuckled, "Well, he'd better be hauling boxes; it's his new place... he said he's been looking for a while; didn't know you were going to be moving in when he signed the lease..."

"Uh-huh..." Kaoru said, distractedly, trying to remember what she could possibly have done in a previous life to deserve this and wishing that she had paid more attention to the things written in her high school bathroom, because she was feeling seriously vocabulary-deprived when it came to expressing how she felt about the situation she suddenly found herself confronted with.

She blinked suddenly as she realized that Kenshin had made his way over to where the two of them were standing. Absently, she wondered what kind of fish a demon would keep in his apartment, and if they counted as pets or snacks.

"Hey, Kenshin! Kaoru said she'd treat us to beer and Chinese food after we're done moving you in; isn't that great?"

Focusing on the one word that had leapt out at her, Kaoru's response was immediate and instinctive. "Hey! Sanosuke Sagara, what makes you think that I'm buying you beer! I never... said... that..." she trailed off as she suddenly registered the entirety of Sano's casual sentence.

'_Oh... oh... bowdlerized son of an expurgated deletion, that... he... now they're both... Kenshin's going to be... and... I wonder if I can claim to be coming down with a case of bubonic plague?'_

From the expression in his eyes, she was pretty sure that Kenshin not only knew exactly what was going through her mind, but that he was enjoying the show immensely.

Setting her jaw, Kaoru gave a grin that was almost as toothy as anything Kenshin could manage and said sweetly, "Oh, well, for _two_ friends, I would hate to think of you eating plain take-out. Actually, I was thinking that I could cook."

Sano blanched, but gamely responded, "Oh...well. Kaoru... you know... you just moved and... well, I would... we would hate to put you to the trouble, right, Kenshin?" The look he gave the red-haired man was almost desperate.

Kenshin, whose eyes had never left Kaoru's face, smoothly said, "I'm impressed; I didn't think that you'd had time to get any shopping done since you've been here."

While Kaoru gaped at him and tried to come up with a response that didn't involve automatically using her briefcase to wipe that smug grin off his face, Sano seized on Kenshin's words like a lifeline.

"You haven't grocery shopped yet?" he said hopefully. "Wow... Megumi's going to give you another lecture about taking proper nutritional care of yourself..."

"I don't need a lecture, Sano, and I was _going_ to shop as soon as..." Kaoru grimaced as she realized that she had now confirmed that she had no food in the apartment.

"Well then, Chinese food it is!" Kenshin declared. "My treat, of course. Your cooking dinner will just have to be a raincheck, I suppose. Hey, Sano, can you grab those last boxes of books? I want to get the fishtank set up."

"Sure, Kenshin! Well, Kaoru, see you for dinner... of course, feel free to help carrying things between now and then if you have time!" the taller man replied, heading off towards the moving van.

"If you still have tests to grade, don't worry about helping with the boxes," Kenshin assured her the minute Sano had left.

Kaoru, who had been secretly hoping Kenshin would ask her to carry something like his dishes... or glasses... or a collection of very expensive and hard-to-replace wines... opened her mouth to volunteer before she remembered that there was a stack of tests sitting on her desk, calling her name in loud, insistent, inky voices.

"I have tests to grade," she said. Inspiration struck. "In fact, I'm going to be grading all night; you really should just..."

Kenshin cut her off mid-sentence. "That's a shame! Well, we'll bring over the Chinese food once we've gotten it and you can take a well-deserved break over dinner. You won't even have to worry about cooking it."

With that, he was off without waiting for her response.

Kaoru stared after him, so caught up in wondering if she could legitimately claim an urgent need to flee across state lines between now and dinner that it took her a while to realize that part of her brain was trying to point out that Kenshin's jeans fit just as well as they had in high school...

'_AGGHHHHHH!'_

As she was heading up the stairs to her apartment—actually, stomping up the stairsshe looked up and saw Kenshin, who was coming back down.

Kaoru froze. Alone, in a stairwell, with someone who had already shown that he... that he would...

She switched her grip so that she was holding her briefcase in front of her like a shield. Or possibly a club. Then she quickened her steps, practically jogging up the stairs.

'_Double-time, hup, hup, hup, don't look up, up, up...'_ she chanted, keeping her eyes focused on the stairs, the empty wrappers, a water stain that looked like Elvis in his Vegas jumpsuit, and a pair of black leather shoes...

He was standing right in front of her. Not moving. And, if his feet were anything to go by, perfectly relaxed and undisturbed.

There was silence for a moment, then Kaoru growled, "Out of my way, you _idiot_!"

Kenshin's laughter rang out, and Kaoru, startled, looked up to see him with his head thrown back, as the richly masculine sound echoed in the stairwell. Then he looked down at her, flashed her a cheerful grin that did nothing to make her feel better about the fangs issue and said, "You know, kitten, you've said that before."

"And I'll say it again. You are in my way; MOVE!" she spat. _'Why oh why didn't I spend my childhood years trying to develop laser vision the way that Yahiko did? Granted, his experiments were inconclusive, but I would have had a lot more practice than him by now, and it would be so much more useful than those cooking lessons from Grandma...'_

As she glared, something in his expression went from amused to considering. Cocking his head at her, Kenshin took the tiniest of steps closer... at least she thought it was a tiny step, although he was suddenly much, much closer. He looked her up and down, still with that considering, thoughtful look on his face, and said, "Tell, me, kitten, would you believe me right now if I said trust me, I'm not going to hurt you?"

"No," she snarled through gritted teeth, eyes flashing.

"Smart girl," he murmured approvingly, and reached his hand up to touch her cheek.

Fortunately, before Kenshin could do anything that would give Kaoru a chance to test her theory that a demon would be less likely to go for her neck if she and her briefcase went for his nose, Sano's solid tread was heard on the stairs above them. Kenshin drew back his hand and stepped away, turning so that he could continue his descent.

Before he headed back down past her, Kenshin remarked in a studiedly bland voice that was worse than any insinuation, "Isn't it a little warm out to be wearing a turtleneck, Kaoru? Did... something happen to your neck?"

"No," she said through gritted teeth, wondering if she should try out her theory just once to see if it worked. A practice run never hurt anybody... Kaoru shook herself away from that terribly tempting thought and continued, "_Nothing_ is wrong with my neck, thank you very much, Kenshin, and good luck with moving."

With that, she turned and prepared to stomp past him.

As she went by, he murmured in a husky voice, "Pity... well, maybe next time, then..."

But by the time she turned around to shriek or brain him, he was already gone, and not even his shadow remained on the stairs.

* * *

Several hours later, Kaoru had lost herself in a sea of exam questions and Post-It Notes. Mostly for her own amusement, she had also started keeping a list of the most ridiculous answers. She was thinking about giving out prizes, but had decided that that would probably count as overly damaging to the students' self-esteem. 

Better just let Mr. Fujita do it, then.

Since she only had one night to grade the entire batch of exams, she had brewed a pot of coffee strong enough to waddle from the kitchen to the living room by itself, thrown on her most comfortable clothes, stuck her hair up into a messy bun, and put on _Heavy Classics Vol. I and II_ as appropriately heroic grading music.

She was swooping her pen around to "Ride of the Valkyries," occasionally darting back to scribble a comment or circle something, when there was a pounding knock at her door that she could have identified in her sleep.

Actually, come to think of it, there had been many occasions in college when she _had_ identified it in her sleep.

As she opened the door, Kaoru was already starting her standard "What, Sano, do you want; I'm in the middle of... a) sleep, b) work, c) dinner" speech, her mind still very much on the pile of exams on her desk rather than the two men in front of her.

Wait... two?

Her brain finally caught up with the fact that Kenshin was standing behind Sano, holding two large bags full of take-out containers, only when both of them were already inside of the apartment.

'_Shouldn't there be something about having to invite demons in before they can enter? Although I suppose that's vampires. Drat. Maybe I can just put up a sign, "All Demons and other Evil Entities Unwelcome; Please Go Away," like Dad did for the snakes in Mom's garden...'_

"Never fear; the food has arrived!" Sano proclaimed, pointing to the take-out bags. "Hey, Missy, you do have plates and silverware and stuff unpacked, right?"

Distracted by the fact that her stomach was literally growling at the smell of food, Kaoru replied, "Umm... yes, cupboards, hang on... why are you here?"

"Sheesh, Missy; those exams must really be frying your brain. Kenshin"—he pointed at the red-headed man—"and I"—he pointed ostentatiously at himself "in keeping with our earlier agreement, have come bearing Chinese food."—he pointed at the bag—"In celebration of Kenshin's successful move into his new apartment,"—a grand gesture that Kaoru supposed was supposed to be an abstract interpretation of the concept of apartment, or possibly movement, "and your... um... not being devoured alive by Post-It Notes. Yet. Um... Kaoru, are those actually supposed to be part of your sweatshirt?"

Looking down, Kaoru realized that she was indeed festooned with more of the sticky little pieces of paper than she had realized. She wasn't even sure how they'd gotten there, and decided that Sano's theory of Killer Attack Post-Its had a frightening degree of merit to it.

She immediately went back over to her desk and removed the offending notes, and by the time she got back, Kenshin and Sano had set up the Chinese food, claimed the couch, and put on a movie Kaoru didn't recognize. It was a murder mystery, with a doe-eyed heroine who catapulted from one perilous situation to another in her attempts to right the wrongs done to her family, including but not limited to theft, slander, murder, bad wardrobe advice, wrongful imprisonment, and murder.

Kaoru, who was busy grading papers in spite of knowing that bringing her exams over to the coffee table and grading them once dinner was done wasn't going to be enough of a hint to Sano that he was intruding on her work time and should go home and bother Megumi, was only half paying attention to the film. Occasionally she would look up and voice comments like, "That's an incredibly unfortunate hat," "Get your feet off of those exams!" or "If only they'd heard of the Law of Economy of Character, they could have solved this in the first twenty minutes..."

Kenshin grinned and replied, "Yes, but then we wouldn't have gotten to see any of those dresses that looked like they'd... how did you put it? Raided the clearance rack at the Barnum and Bailey Store... good God, that woman appears to be wearing a dead badger on her head..."

Kaoru stifled a giggle, then scowled at herself as she tried to get back into Exam Mode. She was starting to realize that she had planned things all wrong; now that she was clearly successfully grading while the movie was playing, she could hardly justify kicking the other two out so that she could successfully grade.

'_Curses, foiled again... This is what comes of forgetting that Rooster Boy wouldn't recognize a subtle hint if it stripped naked, painted itself blue, and danced on top of the pianoforte singing "Subtle hints are here again...'_

The fact that she was able to sit calmly grading exams and half-watching a movie while Kenshin was in the room was something else that made Kaoru scowl. Shouldn't the hairs on the back of her neck be standing up, or something like that? The atmosphere of the room, with Sano and Kenshin and Chinese food and a movie was oddly like hanging out with friends in college.

'_What is the matter with me? Is it even something that's the matter with me, or something that's the matter with Kenshin? I mean.. back in high school, Kenshin.. Battousai.. whatever... he.. he ­radiated presence; you couldn't not notice him. I mean, that's one of the things that attracted those morons, like moths to a flame... and now... he's just so.. normal? Deceptively harmless, considering everything I know about him? Except when he's not being harmless... But right now.. it's like he's just some ordinary friend of Sano's who is crashed on my couch after a hard day of moving boxes and furniture and fishtanks...'_

Momentarily distracted by the heroine's long, involved speechifying, Kaoru looked up and gave a disapproving snort, "Brainless dingbat. Gets herself all geared up to kill the villain who's responsible for all the evils plaguing her ancestral, blah, blah, blah, and now she's spending so long cataloging every wrong ever done to her that he's going to be able to grab the –see, see; I told you! If she's going to stab him, she shouldn't TELL him about it, she should just get it over with and kill him and not waste...er..."

Suddenly remembering who half of her audience was, Kaoru trailed off into a horribly uncomfortable silence.

At least it was horribly uncomfortable for her. Sano, of course, was clueless, and Kenshin... well, she really didn't want to turn around to see Kenshin's expression. She would rather have faced theft, slander, and hats made out of assorted dead animals.

"That," Kenshin remarked after a few seconds where Kaoru was hoping the floor would swallow her, preferably along with the exams so that she would have something amusing to read while she languished in Hell, "is remarkably clear-headed and practical advice. It's exactly the sort of situation where people often waste time talking too much instead of acting."

The strangled noise Kaoru managed to get her throat to produce in response was vaguely affirmative. Well, at least she thought it was.

She really needed a glass of water. Either to drink or to throw at herself; she hadn't decided just yet.

Out in the kitchen, Kaoru settled on drinking the water. And trying to figure out a way to unravel the tangle her thoughts seemed to be in.

On the one hand, she really didn't regret what she'd done, given the circumstances and... and the _other _circumstances. On the other hand, making comments about spontaneously stabbing people in front of someone she'd...well, not spontaneously, but definitely without announcing it in advance or giving him any kind of warning, which was good, because if he'd had warning, well, that wouldn't have worked out well, now would it?..but referring to it that way made it seem...

She realized suddenly that she had the same uncomfortable feeling she'd always gotten when she was visiting her grandparents for one of their formal holiday dinners and found herself using the wrong fork. Like there was some kind of obscure etiquette about talking about certain subjects with demons you'd caused to inconveniently die, even if they seemed to have gotten over it in the meantime.

All at once, she was incredibly annoyed with herself. _'This... of all the ridiculous... I'm worrying about etiquette? That insufferable, annoying, probably fanged, nuisance is out there making himself comfortable on my couch after making himself comfortable bothering me all week, and I'm worried that Miss Manners is going to send the Politeness Police after me? I really do need to throw a glass of water in my face...'_

Her embarrassment vanishing, Kaoru muttered a few more choice words at herself, put her glass down on the counter, and walked back to watch the denouement of the movie.

Well, she _would_ have walked back to watch the movie, if it weren't for the fact that Kenshin was once again suddenly standing where she was sure nobody had been before, and before she could do more than register his presence, she found herself being yanked forward against him and his mouth was coming down to claim hers.

The few seconds of rational thought that Kaoru had were wasted as her brain tried to catch up with what had just happened. Even though he had pulled her so that she was pressed firmly up against the length of his body, unable to back away, it wasn't a bruising kiss. Instead, his mouth moved against hers as if he was memorizing the taste of her lips, the way that she gasped slightly against him so that he could deepen their kiss and delicately stroke his tongue against the roof of her mouth. Impossibly, Kaoru found herself pressing closer to him, wanting to feel the way his heartbeat echoed through her, the way his muscles moved as he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried one hand in her hair, sending the pins that had loosely held her bun up scattering across the floor. She had no idea how long she clung to his shoulders, when she registered the warm feel of his hands against the skin of her back underneath her shirt, or when her own tongue had found its way past his lips, but a sudden yell of, "Hey! Kenshin! Guys? They're about to storm the fortress!" brought reality crashing back in fragments that she had to work to reassemble.

The faint, careful, sharp pressure of the points of Kenshin's teeth—'_Answers that question,'_ she thought dizzilyagainst her lower lip as he pulled back threatened to make her knees give out all over again.

Kenshin seemed reluctant to move his arms, but as he stepped back, he called out, "Be right there! Just getting something to drink, and pointing out to Kaoru that she's definitely right ... in some situations, it's better to just act without talking about it forever first..."

And with that, he was heading back out to the living room, leaving Kaoru dazed and blinking after him, the taste of him still lingering in her mouth.

In the vast confusion dominating her brain, one thought came together and repeated itself loudly.

'_How the HELL am I supposed to finish grading those exams now?'

* * *

_

Author's Note: Kenshin clearly hasn't read Kaoru's list of Things He's Not Allowed to Do.In other news,while I am _hoping_ to get another chapter posted next weekend, I am about to be running around for two weeks on a kind of familial Grand Tour, so I'm not sure what my time is going to look like. On a side note, if anybody has suggestions for the name of Sano's bar, feel free to share! I am torn about whether they would leave a pre-existing name (Sano probably would) or change it (Katsu probably would). Also.. um.. did anybody else notice a plagarist? Riceball1004 brought it up, apparently in the context of it having been dealt with, but.. clueless me, I missed that there had been anything like that in the first place. So now I'm just confused. Ah well.

Auxiliary Author's Note: OK, one of my fabulous reviewers, Anne Novemberly, asked about everybody's ages. That is an excellent question, which I have been skillfully avoiding. Except now that somebody has asked about it, I feel compelled to answer.

Ages: Roughly speaking, I used the characters' ages in the manga as their ages at the start of the story, based on the information in the "Kenshin Kaden," which is the official guidebook (there are a couple of exceptions). Specifically, that means:

Kenshin Himura/Battousai: Unknown, and not talking about it.

Mr. Fujita: Likewise.

Kaoru Kamiya: When the story started, Kaoru was 17. She turned 18 in June of that year (according to the Kenshin Kaden, Kaoru's birthday is in late June, so I stuck with that. Also according to the Kaden, Kenshin's birthday is June 21st, which makes him a Gemini. Anybody who is surprised by this should go whap themselves on the head with a copy of Volume 2 of either the manga or the anime). This means that when she moves into her apartment, she's 23, since it's five years later and in the Fall. Now, some of you might wonder how it is that she's gotten done with college and gotten a teaching internship when she's so young! That is actually something that is going to come up later on, believe it or not. The short explanation is that Kaoru, who as we saw was very academic and not very social in high school, took a lot of Advanced Placement courses and possibly some actual college classes, so she started college with a fair number of credits towards her B.A. Then she took very high courseloads in college and may very well have been in some kind of joint BA/MA program. Long story short, Kaoru wanted to get through college and get a job as quickly as possible, so that's what she worked towards. She has now gotten her BA and the only thing she has left to do before finishing the MA is the internship she has.

Yahiko Kamiya: Yahiko was 10 when the story started and is now 15. He's in 9th grade.

Misao Makimachi: Misao is a year younger than Kaoru, give or take (her birthday is in November). She was 16 during their senior year, and is now 22 and working towards her MA in architecture. Yes, I left her as a year younger but put her in the same grade. My assumption is that she skipped a grade in elementary school. Her parents died and she moved in with her grandfather, and when she took the placement tests in her new school district, she ended up getting placed a grade higher.

Sanosuke Sagara: Sano, when we first meet him, is 25 (ie, two years older than Kaoru). Gives him plenty of time to drop out of school in his senior year, wander around the world for a while, then come back to the city to take up the job as a bouncer, leading to partial bar-ownership and so on.

Megumi Takani: Megumi is five years older than Kaoru, which means that she is 28 when we first see her (which isn't until Kaoru is moving into her own apartment).

Kaoru and Yahiko's dad is in his late forties.

Is that everybody?

In this chapter I don't own: Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn," Terry Pratchett's "Johnny and the Dead," anything by Edgar Allen Poe, David Palmer's "Emergence," "Blackadder's Christmas Carol," or that episode of "MacGyver" where he puts the explosive properties of sodium and water to good use. I also don't own that episode of "Rurouni Kenshin" where Megumi spends time explaining to Kanryuu that she's going to kill him before she tries it. Not that I think Hannya couldn't have stopped her anyway, but each time I see that scene I find myself wanting to yell, "Just stab him already! Don't keep talking about it! Just stab him!"

Reviewer Reponses: Hi everybody! I continue to be terribly happy that so many people are enjoying this story and writing reviews. Thank you, everybody! I will try to respond to as many reviews as I can, but probably not everybody. I am having so much fun writing this; it thrills me that people also enjoy reading it. Please let me know if there's anything that's confusing; just because something is clear in my head doesn't mean it makes sense to.. um.. normal people. And, yes, I do realize that my approach to grammar is often "more like guidelines than actual rules." I am trying to make the sentences shorter, but things sometimes get caught up in a stream-of-consciousness writing fashion before I realize it. My view is that the sentence fragments balance things out. ;-)

AngelWingsbaka: giggles The penguins can stay, as long as they don't get into fights with the squirrels. Wow.. it's starting to be a menagerie, isn't it... hmm... And I appreciate your waiting by your e-mailbox for an update. Hope that you like this one as well!

Anne Novemberly: Thank you for such a detailed and thoughtful review! Ok, I hope that I answered your questions about people's ages up above. In terms of where Misao was on Moving Day... I would guess that she was out of town for some reason, either personal or school-related. Kaoru probably didn't mind too much; as you say, Misao is perhaps not the best person to be trusted with breakable objects. But if she'd been in town at all, she would have shown up, to help or make comments. In terms of Kaoru's shower times... as you saw in this chapter, Kaoru tends to use showers as part of her morning waking-up routine now that she's out in the real world. She might prefer to shower at night, a habit dating back to when she would have kendo lessons and then shower afterwards, and she probably does that when she can, but she also likes to shower before she heads off to confront classrooms full of teenagers and her somewhat disconcerting supervisor. When Megumi and Misao dragged Kaoru off for coffee, we didn't get to see the protests Kaoru made at school, although we can assume that she made at least a token protest. Faced with a pile of tests, getting away for coffee doubtless seemed like a good idea; it's the thought that she might be late getting back and face the wrath of Mr. Fujita that bothers her. Kenshin thinking of Kaoru's skin tasting of sweetness and fire was meant to be more of the kind of fire you get with wasabi, or chili peppers; a tastebud-based fire, not something being on fire (and now I suddenly have a craving for mole poblano sauce.. sigh...). Does that make more sense?

Cocovanilla: Well, he clearly wouldn't have _minded_ giving her a hickey... In fact, he seems disappointed that he didn't. Yet.

Fantasy Angel Victoria: No, I don't think it's at all wrong to really like the hallway scene. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. In terms of Hiko.. evil eyebrow waggle Well, you never know with Hiko...

Grimnoire: Thank you! And, actually, "Children of the Night" is where I picked up the idea of referring to a gaki in the first place. grins Excellent book!

Indygodusk: Glad that you like the neck-nibbling! And, yes, the favors Kenshin called in with Sano did indeed make Kaoru rather annoyed.

KatieVixen: Thank you for confirming the gaki as a Japanese vampire! I am weaker on Asian mythology and folklore than other areas, so it was good to get information from somebody who knows.

Killer Cool Sobe: Nice to see you here! Yes, Kaoru as a teacher just made sense—I mean, she's a teacher in the original, so I liked being able to play around with that and update it a little.

Linay: Glad to help make things more interesting!

Nekotsuki: bows I live to serve! And, thank you!

omasuoniwabanshi: Fujita and Saitoh? whistles innocently Why, whatever could you mean? As for Scantron... well, yes, absolutely, much easier.. but can you honestly imagine Mr. Fujita letting the students get away with a test where they just had to fill in bubbles with a pencil? He seems much more like the nerve-wracking word problems, show all of your thought processes, write in complete sentences type of teacher.

skenshinigumi: Regarding fights and appearances... attempts to whistle innocently and do the evil eyebrow waggle at the same time, but soon gives up And if you thought Kaoru was having trouble remembering reasons to run away after the neck-nibbling incident... this chapter surely did nothing to help her dilemma!

Sorrow's Raven: Glad that you appreciated the "Princess Bride" usage. It just seemed so appropriate, for various reasons.

Strawberry'd: Hmm.. well, "gaki" could both mean "brat" and be some kind of demon/vampire. My Japanese is just not good enough to tell. And, yes, romance. Although Kaoru does NOT seem happy about it. grins Glad that you got the Persian cat joke.

Triste: Ack! Darn it—I knew that that breath/breathe error was there (it was pointed out to me), and meant to correct it and then forgot. Guess I was too eager to post the chapter. For historical romances.. Georgette Heyer wrote some very fine Regency (mostly) romances, which you should be able to find in libraries. Some have also been reprinted, I believe. Another fun read is the fantasty/Regency mix "Sorcery and Cecelia," by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermeyer. Not purely a romance, but lots of fun and very funny.. Thank you for another lovely review!

xZig-zagx: Thank you! I am thrilled that people who don't usually read Aus are giving this one a chance, and always love when people point out specific lines that they liked.


	11. If You Want to Make a Splash, Cheri

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm.. we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, probably OOC (can't be avoided on account of the AU setting, although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers. Or at least references to spoilerish things.

Chapter Eleven: If You Want to Make a Splash, Cheri

* * *

"This one?"

"Hotel hooker."

"It is not THAT bad..."

The only response Kaoru received was an archly raised eyebrow over one ocean-blue eye.

"I mean, I admit that the skirt is a little bit..."

"Kaoru, between the neckline and the hemline, that's a dress that screams, "Back me up against a wall and..."

"Misao!"

"I'm just saying, I know you want to look professional, but that doesn't mean that you have to pick _that_ particular profession..." Misao finished, holding her hands up in a placating gesture.

"OK! All clear; how about this one?" Kaoru said, putting her first choice down and pulling another off the rack —she really didn't think it was _that_ bad, but she also knew that she had the fashion sense of a blind aardvark on acid... and that Misao had the pictures to prove it.

"Recently ravished shepherdess." Misao declared authoritatively. "General rule? Bows are not of the good. They may in fact represent the forces of darkness."

"This would be the unbearable darkness of sheep-herding?"

"This would be the concrete darkness of you in a room full of teenagers looking like you escaped from Little Bo Peep's School for Girls."

Kaoru hastily shoved the suit back. Now that she looked at it from Misao's point of view, she could see where it was a bit... frilly. Just a tad.

It really wasn't her fault that she couldn't concentrate, she told herself for the fifth time that morning. First of all, she had been up to all hours grading those damned exams, which meant that she was running on very little sleep. She had managed to nap in the afternoon, until Misao swung by to drag her out for their long-planned shopping and dinner expedition. Now she was trapped in the mall with Misao in full shopping-mode, with no way of getting out of it unless she had a doctor's excuse or a darned good explanation.

And, while she _technically_ had a darned good explanation... well, there was no way that she was sharing it. With anybody.

It had taken her long enough to forcibly shove last night's kitchen interlude into the back corner of her mind so that she could focus on the exams. Which, frankly, hadn't prevented her from slowly drifting back to wakefulness in the morning with her entire body tingling from the memory of how Kenshin's arms had felt, the way that he'd smelled of ginger and something that she was pretty sure was almost- but not quite- like pine trees growing next to the ocean.

She had needed two mugs of extra-strong coffee before she was ready to face that what was really bothering her wasn't so much that she'd been passionately and thoroughly kissed by a demon.

It was that she had been thoroughly and passionately kissing him back.

She really wasn't sure what to make of that fact. In her admittedly limited experience, being kissed could be... well, sweet, and perfectly nice, and definitely something to do if the movie was really, really mind-numbingly boring, but the way that Kenshin had...and then the way that... and especially that part where he'd...

Kaoru realized that Misao was talking again... well, actually, that Misao probably hadn't stopped talking in the first place, and that she was still standing staring mindlessly at the rack of clothing.

"Sorry; what?" Kaoru said apologetically, hoping that she hadn't missed anything important.

'_Gimme an "f," gimme an "o," gimme a "c," "u," "s,"—what does that spell? Not giving the Weasel anything she can latch onto and ask inconvenient questions, that's what that spells! Looked at rationally, it makes sense that evil demons would know how to do that sort of thing. They probably have to take courses.'_ Part of her brain commented that Kenshin had clearly gotten an "A," possibly with bonus points, but she told it to go focus on images of the class projects she was about to have to grade, and it shut up._ 'And, well, you're a perfectly normal, healthy young woman, so it makes sense, rationally, that you would respond. Nothing but hormones. Could have happened to anybody. Pure coincidence that it was you that time. Coincidence and... and.. skullduggery on his part, fitting with his evil schemes to get past your defenses and get you to help him with his nefarious plans. You just have to keep from being alone with him, and.. well, lay back and think of the fate of humanity in general... except without the laying back... I shall stand up and remind myself that it does not matter HOW well he kisses, or what my hormones think about it; they don't get to vote in this.'_

Having rationally dealt with her problem, Kaoru was able to take a deep breath and get back to the important matters at hand. Following Misao to the next rack of suits, Kaoru attempted to pick one that was bow-less, frill-less, and with an industrial-strength neckline.

Before she could even get it out of the tangle of other suits, Misao firmly declared "East German bureaucrat" and pushed it back where it could remain safely hidden, possibly for the rest of time.

Feeling like she was running out of options, and starting to get fed up with the entire clothes-shopping procedure, Kaoru suggested, "What about the pink one, over there on the end?"

"My Aunt Mabel's living room sofa."

"Remind me again why I'm going shopping with you?" Kaoru groaned heavily.

"Because every time you try to go on your own, you start to get fed up with the entire clothes-shopping process and come home with books, CDs, and the occasional throw pillow, but NO actual new clothes. And," she grinned manically, "also because you promised that if I helped you deal with the horrors of suit-shopping, you would let me pick out a date outfit, suitable for dinner, movie, and/or clubbing."

"Speaking of 'clubbing," Kaoru muttered under her breath as the smaller girl darted across the aisle and seemed to simultaneously pull out three different suits, in a plumy burgundy, a dark heather gray, and a navy blue with pale blue pinstripes.

"Ok, you take these, and I'll grab some blouses... what do you have at home... oh, never mind, you need new ones..." Misao chirped.

"Hey! What makes you think that I need new blouses?" Kaoru retorted indignantly.

Misao merely stared at Kaoru with a level gaze until the latter lowered her eyes and blushed faintly.

After looking at the suit and blouse combinations with a practiced eye, Misao eliminated the burgundy on the grounds that it made Kaoru's skin look too pale, and one of the blouses because it, in her words, had "a kind of Victorian schoolmistress dominatrix vibe that you really need leather and a horsewhip to pull off successfully."

Kaoru really wasn't sure she wanted to know how her friend could state that so authoritatively.

That left two blouses, and the gray and blue suits. Misao was in favor of Kaoru getting both of them, since two suits would certainly be useful. Kaoru wasn't so sure that her budget could handle that, and said so, to which Misao declared that Kaoru should consider the dating outfit her Christmas and birthday present, and spend her money getting the suits instead.

It was really terribly sweet, Kaoru thought, except for the fact that Misao kept referring to the other outfit as "bait."

Once the suits had been purchased and safely stowed in the car, the two girls went to grab a quick dinner at the mall food court and plot their next stops. Well, Misao plotted; Kaoru concentrated on her salad and drink and hoped that she could figure out a way to minimize the potential clothing disaster.

'_Nothing too high, nothing too low, nothing too tight, nothing too flashy... basically, eliminate anything Misao would wear herself for a night out...'_

Sipping her drink, Misao asked, "Hey, what's the theme this year for Sano and Katsu's Halloween Bash at Blue Mooney's?"

Kaoru furrowed her brow in thought and replied, "You'd have to ask Megumi. Last I knew, she was still finalizing arrangements for where she wanted the money to go this year, and they never pick a theme until she's told them the specifics. Well, not since that year Katsu wanted to do a "Halloween amidst the flames of Hell" theme and didn't know that Megumi had made arrangements for the profits to go to the burn unit."

Misao giggled. "That's right; I had forgotten. Well, we've got a while, so I guess I don't have to think about costumes just yet. I can devote all my attention to finding _you_ something suitably fabulous for next week!"

"Yay?" Kaoru muttered under her breath as Misao got up to dispose of the cups and napkins.

Rejuvenated and re-caffeinated, they went to spend the remaining hours until the mall closed hitting Misao's favorite boutique, where the petite girl proceeded to go through the shelves and racks like a whirlwind, her braid swinging as she pulled things out, looked them over, and either replaced them or handed them into Kaoru's already overloaded arms.

"Skirt or pants?" she demanded as she continued to scan the shelves.

"Um...well... I don't know..." Kaoru said, caught off guard. It really wasn't the sort of thing that she spent a lot of time thinking about on a regular basis.

"Right, we'll try both, then..." Misao said, and proceeded to pull out a pair of black pants Kaoru was sure would have to be poured on and something that apparently couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to be a skirt or a very large belt.

'_Oh... oh, I knew that this was a bad idea...'_ Kaoru groaned internally. All of Misao's choices so far hit at least one of Kaoru's "No, no, no" list, but her protests were falling on deaf ears.

Deciding that she could at least mollify her friend by trying things on, and then pointing out all of the flaws, Kaoru headed into the dressing room and dumped everything on a chair in the corner.

She tried the skirt... unless it was a belt...first, along with a blue tank top that dipped low in the back and was woven with subtle silver threads.

"Hmm..." Misao said critically. "No, no, not with that top... try the other one..."

Kaoru wasn't sure how many combinations Misao had her try on before the petite girl bounced back into the dressing room with a grin.

She was still wearing the black leather pants Misao had already declared to be keepers, and which Kaoru had yet to come up an acceptable objection to. They somehow managed to be comfortable in spite of how tightly they fit, and were surprisingly durable. Kaoru had surreptitiously tried a few basic kata moves in the dressing room, in the hopes that one of the seams would split and put the pants out of the running, but it hadn't worked.

"I found the perfect top for you!" Misao held up a hanger with... Kaoru blinked.

"Um... Misao... that's _not_ a top; that's a handkerchief that's somehow gotten separated from its kerchiefy little friends..."

"Your wacky imagination is exceeded only by your complete lack of imagination. Um... I mean, live a little when it comes to clothing! This is for clubbing, and dancing, and drinking, and having fun, and...and... frolicking!"

"I don't there's enough of it to do all that..." Kaoru said, holding the hanger up skeptically to look at her friend's choice.

The fabric—what there was of it—was a medium blue, with another strip of the same blue that went around the neck to hold the top in place. Between the two medium blue pieces was a slightly shimmery lighter blue fabric that Kaoru was sure was going to be awfully close to see-through.

Misao said, "Well, come on; put it on, what are you waiting for?"

"But...but... Misao, I don't think that I'm wearing the right bra for something like that..." Kaoru tried, desperate. Misao had _that_ look in her eyes again...

"You don't wear a bra with this, Kaoru."

"I. you... how am I supposed to be out in a club and dancing and so on _without a bra_?" Kaoru hissed, blushing furiously.

Misao pulled the top off the hanger and turned it inside out. "It's got a built-in underwire, Kaoru... this top works like its own bra. Put it on; you'll see."

Muttering under her breath, Kaoru finally gave in.

The top wasn't actually as bad as she'd feared.

It was much worse.

The bottom of the top came down to just underneath her breasts, and with the low waist of the pants, Kaoru's entire abdomen felt very exposed. Not to mention that the entire thing fit like a second skin. The shimmery fabric managed to keep the amount of cleavage she was showing just shy of being completely indecent... well... actually, Kaoru wouldn't use the word "shy" in any context where that top was concerned.

"PERFECT!" Misao yelled, loudly enough that two salespeople and a customer started and then turned and stared.

'_Don't show fear; don't show fear... oh...crap...'_ Kaoru thought as Misao turned to her with shining eyes and launched into conversation without waiting for Kaoru to even open her mouth.

"Yes! That's the outfit for you! And, well, for whichever lucky guy you're out with... ok, change back so that I can pay, and then, my friend, we are going to spend the remaining time shopping for shoes. By which I mean _you_ are getting new shoes. And before you protest, let me remind you that I've seen those ridiculous black pumps you insist on wearing—in fact, I was there when you bought them, over the express objections of both Megumi and myself, and they have not gotten any prettier over the intervening years. Go, change; we have shopping to do!"

"Ah...I...uh..." Kaoru stuttered, then gave up. There was really no way to stop Hurricane Misao once she got going; it was useless to try.

'_Well... if I let her buy this, she'll feel better, and I won't have to worry about any birthday 'surprises' like last year ... and the year before that... and there's nothing that says I actually have to ­wear­ it. Ever. It can just live happily in the back of my closet and commune with the other things Misao has given me that are too lovely to wear...'_

Giving it one last try as they left the store, Kaoru gamely said, "You know, Misao, if we could just stop at the bookstore on the way to the shoes..."

"Oh, no, raccoon-girl—you pulled that stunt last time. 'Oh, just go ahead," you said. "I'll catch up," you said. Five hours later, you're still lurking in the stacks and the mall is getting ready to close. No bookstores for you."

"You are a cruel, cruel girl," Kaoru mused, without real anger, "Hey... is there some kind of film noir retro fashion trend going on? There was this guy outside the food court in a black fedora, and there's another one right now in a black hat that looks exactly alike."

"How alike? Was it the same hat?" Misao demanded, eyes twinkling. 'You know what they say about deja vu..."

" 'Oh Tish, that's French'?" Kaoru suggested.

Misao rolled her eyes. "OK, fine, don't believe me. But don't be surprised when the men in black suits and sunglasses show up."

"With you, I'm more worried about the men in white coats," Kaoru retorted.

Ducking the punch Misao aimed at her arm, Kaoru laughed as the two girls headed on to tackle the dreaded black pumps issue. Shooting down Misao's first four choices on the grounds that: they were impractical for school; they would be hard to walk in; no, sex kitten is _not_ the look I'm going for; and just plain ugly, Kaoru finally found a pair of shoes they could both agree on and bought them with a sigh of relief. Not only that, Misao had bounded up to her with a pair of black boots that she insisted would work beautifully with Kaoru's other new outfit. Since Kaoru could see them working well with clothing she actually intended to wear out in public, she acquiesced and bought the boots along with the pumps. This made Misao happy enough to jump up and down, before she remembered that she had promised not to do that any more in the mall.

Once she'd paid for everything, Kaoru allowed herself a satisfied grin. Two suits, plus blouses, an outfit Misao never needed to know she wasn't going to wear, sensible pumps, and some nice dressy boots. Not a bad haul for an afternoon's work. If she played her cards right, it would be another month before either Misao or Megumi got it into their heads that Kaoru's wardrobe needed adjustment.

"I'm so happy that you finally found shoes to replace those other monstrosities!" Misao sighed happily as they headed out to the parking lot.

"I'm amazed that you managed to find three pairs for yourself in half an hour. Where do you _keep_ all of your shoes, Misao? I've been to your apartment; it's not that big..."

Misao shrugged, "Well, when something's important to me, I find a way to make it happen. Speaking of making things happen, we need to figure out where you're going to wear your spiffy new outfit. I'm thinking next week, drinks, dancing, and potential debauchery, if either of us can find a man worth... um... debauching."

Kaoru blushed, although it was more from the memory of recent events than Misao's suggestion. She could only hope that her face was either not visible in the darkness or that Misao would assume it was because Kaoru was thinking of purely hypothetical situations.

Misao chattered brightly the whole way back to Kaoru's apartment, running through half-formed plans for getting together the following Friday and hitting the clubs.

Kaoru nodded vaguely and made occasional affirmative noises, but spent most of the time watching the streetlights and the other cars on the road.

'_When is she going to learn that I really don't like going out to noisy, crowded bars and clubs, full of half-drunken idiots? Well, gee, Kaoru, the fact that you keep letting yourself get talked into going to said clubs and bars isn't exactly making it clear, is it.'_

This time, she was resolved not to be overwhelmed by Misao's persuasive talents. There was no way she was going to spend an evening out with a hyperactive weasel-girl, surrounded by a bunch of men who she didn't even know, hoping to find somebody to get into a relationship with...

Kaoru paused. A relationship. Maybe that wasn't such a horrible idea after all. If she was in a relationship, then... Kenshin would have to back off, right? It would mean that she obviously and publicly and definitely wasn't available, and then he wouldn't keep... well, doing the things that he seemed prone to do. Repeatedly. At the very least, she reasoned, having a shiny new boyfriend to brandish in front of him would throw him off enough to give her space to figure out how exactly she was going to get rid of him. For good this time.

Now _that_ was something it was worth spending an evening out for.

"What time next Friday?" Kaoru asked as they pulled into her parking lot.

Misao blinked. She honestly hadn't been expecting Kaoru to agree so quickly; usually it took cunning, guile, and threats to drag her friend out of the house on a Friday night. However, she was not one to look a gift raccoon in the mouth, so she quickly replied, "Eight o'clock. I'll come by to pick you up."

"Isn't eight a little earlier than you normally start club-hopping?"

"I'm factoring in the time I'll need to wrangle you into a decent outfit and re-do your hair and make-up." Misao admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with the way I do my make-up! And I can dress myself, thank you. Just pick me up at nine-thirty like you always do, ok?"

"Fine, fine," Misao sighed in a way that made it perfectly obvious she had no intention of doing as Kaoru requested. "I'll see you on Friday."

"I won't answer the door before nine-thirty, just so you know. In fact, I may booby trap the doorbell. Possibly with paintballs."

And with that, Kaoru said her goodbyes and got out of the car, grabbing her purchases from the backseat. She waved to Misao as her car drove away, and headed upstairs to put her new clothes in the closet—in some cases, very far back in the closet—and get some sleep.

Tomorrow, she and Sano had a long day of car-hunting, and she knew that she needed to be well-rested. Megumi had gone car-shopping with Sano once without getting a full night's sleep, and it was the reason she now drove a very tiny, very fast, very red convertible sports car with many unique personality quirks.

Making sure that all of her car-shopping information was laid out and well-organized, Kaoru turned out her lights, brushed her teeth, and went to bed.

* * *

Car shopping was neither as successful as Kaoru had hoped nor as bad as she had feared. True, it took way more time than she had planned, and involved Sano arguing strongly in favor of a zippy little Mazda that gave Kaoru a very bad flashback of a laughing blonde and her blonde, laughing friends accelerating out of the high school parking lot.

However, Sano was not only willing to look at all the options Kaoru had circled (after he himself had read through the ads and agreed that those were the best choices), he took his time with each car, checking the tires, the engine, the seats, the sound system—to Kaoru's amusement—and everything else he or Kaoru could think of. Since he'd been bugging her to get a car for half a year, he had a pretty good idea of exactly what she was looking for...well, except for the Mazda incident... and she ended up with a silver-grey sedan that had fewer than fifty thousand miles on it and enough room to haul all of her things, and occasionally her brother, back and forth.

Since he'd been so helpful, for once Kaoru was the one to suggest that Sano deserved beer and sustenance, and that they could pick up Megumi and head out to whatever restaurant he picked in her shiny new-to-her car.

"Thanks, Missy, but the Fox and I have plans. Anniversary of the third time we started going out. And, um, the fifth."

"Oh... well... congratulations and, uh, congratulations. Take a rain-check?"

"You know it!" Sano grinned broadly "Well, you take care of your nice new car... and don't let the Weasel try to name it!"

Kaoru laughed. Misao did have a habit of naming the inanimate objects owned by her and her friends... a process which usually involved referring to the object in question by a series of names until she found one that she decided fit, for reasons that were clear only to Misao. This was also how she had ended up with a hundred and twenty pound mastiff named Angel Marie.

Taking advantage of her automotive freedom, Kaoru drove cheerfully down the highway, singing car-related pop songs at the top of her lungs.

"Life is a highway! I wanna drive it... until I figure out what to do for dinner... Burger King does it my way... but fried chicken's always a winner... hmm... well, that'll never be a Top 40 hit, now will it... Hmm... apparently being in my very own car makes me more likely not only to sing out loud but to talk to myself... Better not do that when anybody else is in the car with me. Although then I suppose I'd be talking to them... Clearly, car ownership is more complicated than I first thought..."

In the end, Kaoru decided that she wanted to go home and kick back with a good movie... preferably one that involved no car chases, car crashes, car vandalism...

One of those Jane Austen films Megumi had talked about the other day sounded good.

Movie night automatically meant pizza and root beer, and, since Kaoru was feeling particularly happy and self-indulgent, an order of cheesesticks. With garlic. Lots of garlic.

True, that was another thing that was supposed to be for vampires, but she didn't expect a... a... well, whatever kind of demon Kenshin was, exactly, to want to get up close and personal with a girl who smelled like garlic.

She wondered if there was an Eau de Garlique available alongside the garlic capsules and supplements at one of the local health food stores...

Thanks to the wonders of modern cellphone technology, Kaoru pre-ordered the pizza and was able to pick it up immediately.

"Here you go, Ms Kamiya! The usual, plus cheesesticks, extra garlic. So, no delivery tonight, huh?"

"Nope! I got a car! It's so shiny! Don't worry; I am sure there will be times when I rely on pizza delivery, same as always. Have a good night!" Kaoru answered. She wondered if she should be disturbed by the fact that her car-buying good mood was making her sound an awful lot like Misao...

The parking lot presented an unexpected problem, since Kaoru hadn't registered for a parking spot at the rental office.

'_Rats... rats... other small annoying mammals... I knew that there was something I forgot to do yesterday! Oh... and water the plants; two things I forgot to do yesterday... Hmm... visitor's spot, visitor's spot, there can't be THAT many people deigning to visit our fair complex... ah-ha! I'll just have to go to the office on Monday and fill out an application now that I have a car of my very, very own.'_

Humming "Route 66" under her breath, Kaoru headed for the stairs, balancing the pizza, cheesesticks, and root beer while she hunted for the door keys. She slowed and paused when she thought she someone standing near the entranceway—the apartment complex had a strict policy against letting other people into the building, a policy which Kaoru was highly in favor of, and she always waited to see if somebody was going to be buzzed in before she went in herself, just so nobody could lurk and then use her to get in. Fortunately, when she looked more closely, it was just an odd pattern of shadows from the trees and trash bins. And possibly the neighbor's cat, who occasionally found things worth pouncing on in the general vicinity of the trash.

'_Tell the office that the light in the stairwell is burned out; THREE things I forgot... and nifty red uniforms...argh..._ _ok, ok, no problem; just have to attain a Zen-like state of oneness with the pizza box and the soda and make it up the stairs without incurring the wrath of gravity..."_

Fortunately, the stairs were free of obstructions, and Kaoru was able to proceed without too much trouble as long as she took it slowly, relied heavily on the light coming in from the parking lot lamps, and kept her glance trained on the stairs.

Then, she wasn't even sure how, her ears picked up a noise, the merest hint of a sound, and she looked up, startled, to see movement; a pair of glowing amber eyes, a flash of deep red in the darkness, and a fierce, harsh, snarl of an expression that that had her automatically throwing her arms out even as she took an instinctive step backwards...

... only to feel a sense of panic and disorientation as her foot met nothing but the air at the edge of the step.

Kaoru's loud scream was cut off as she found herself suddenly jerked forward and spun so that she was standing on the landing, catching her breath and re-orienting herself now that she had stopped moving.

She wasn't falling... that was good. She could handle not falling. There were two hands clasped around her forearms, hands that seemed unwilling to let go, as if she would immediately start tumbling again without support.

As her brain re-examined the past several seconds, and put the "who" together with the "what," Kaoru realized that the not falling might be the least of her problems.

Unless she planned on attacking Kenshin with cheesesticks, she really didn't have a weapon, and she had no illusions about being able to break his grip.

'_Oh, hells...'_ she thought, and then, _'And I didn't even get to drive my new car to work; finally get a new car, and can't use it more than once due to unexpected demonic activity, just my luck; guess Yahiko was right that I'm just not meant to have a car, although how exactly he connected that to my cooking skills is still a myst-... huh?'_

Kenshin had let go, and taken a step back. Kaoru blinked uncertainly. Of the various and several responses she had expected from him, that was not one.

"I... I'm sorry," he said, his voice low.

"You what?" Kaoru said, looking up at him in shock.

"I... I didn't realize it was... I thought it was... somebody else. It's dark, and I didn't expect..." Kenshin trailed off.

'_Sheepish is a very odd expression for him,'_ she decided, _'And that shirt does nothing... oh, double hells... I DID attack him with cheesesticks...'_

And, indeed, now that she was looking at it from a stationary position, the light coming in from the windows clearly showed that Kenshin's shirt was... well... considering the root beer, the cheese and garlic were probably the least of his laundry issues. She didn't dare glance down to check out his pants, but she was fairly sure they must be in a similar situation.

And if the cheesesticks and root beer had met a grisly fate defending her from a vicious attack of mistaken identity, then what had happened...

"Oh, DAMMIT!" Kaoru yelled, interrupting what looked like Kenshin's attempt to continue his explanation and dashing past him to where the pizza box had landed.

"Oh, please; come on..." she muttered, ignoring Kenshin's questioning, "Kaoru?" and focusing on more important issues.

Namely, her dinner.

Kaoru exhaled in relief when she realized that the pizza had survived. Well, one side was... a little bit bent, and she was going to have to perform an emergency topping readjustment, but it was definitely much more edible than anything she could have come up with on her own.

Good; she wasn't going to have to kill Kenshin. Tonight, at least.

Picking up the pizza protectively, Kaoru turned to face the redhead, who was still looking at her with an expression that was somewhere between sheepish and baffled.

"This," she said in an aggrieved tone, "is my dinner. You seem to be wearing the rest of it, and the only regrettable thing about that is that you have deprived me of cheesesticks, about which I am _not_ pleased."

Kenshin looked down and seemed to notice what had happened to his shirt... and definitely his pants, now that Kaoru could risk a quick glance... for the first time.

"Ah," he said, "Um... that's ok... I still have your sweatshirt from the last time you..."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR WARDROBE! And you'd better give me back my sweatshirt, you... oh, never mind, the _point_ is that this" she gestured at him aggressively with the slightly battered box, "is my dinner. Which I was looking forward to. And which I am now going to go eat, in my apartment, and if you come anywhere near my door, you are going to be needing to replace more than your shirt, you pointy-toothed idiot."

And with that, Kaoru turned and stomped into the hallway, not caring about Kenshin's explanations or his expression.

Screw Jane Austen; she needed a film where the Demonic Forces of Hell got their assess handed to them by a group of righteous heroes. Preferably in a very painful fashion, possibly involving creative use of household objects as weapons.

She was starting to think that a few pointers in that direction might be very handy.

* * *

In this chapter, I don't own: The hysterically funny farce "Noises Off," "The Matrix," "The Addams Family," "Route 66," or "Life is a Highway." And I still don't own the Muppets. Nor do I own "The Creation of Man," from the musical version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel," although it is a very funny song.

After many suggestions, I went with Blue Mooney's for the name of Sano and Katsu's bar (thank you to Ravyn and her floormates!). I'm thinking it's a combination of the previous owner's name and Sano attempting wordplay, possibly based on when Megumi told him she would ever even think about going out with him.

Reviewer Responses: Well, after a very wonderful—yet exhausting—family vacation, I am back! Bwa ha ha! We had amazing weather (the one day we had half a day of greyness and drizzle, we were someplace where greyness and drizzle added to a Distinctly Romantic Atmosphere), nobody fell into a river, I managed to get everybody on and off trains and subways successfully, and the time that the guy in the room above my parents' left the water running and made the plaster and everything fall on their beds and their room generally flood turned out to be one of those great vacation anecdotes (the hotel folks moved all the luggage as soon as they noticed water dripping through my parents' floor, so when they came back, it was to a room that was totally stripped of everything, including wallpaper and carpet, with mysteriously vanished luggage). Thanks again to everybody who has been reviewing, both folks who are regular readers and new people! I continue to be thrilled by responses to this story, including questions and places where I need to clarify things. Although, of course, there are questions which I will not answer, because I am, you know, occasionally eee-vil. (cue evil chortle)

One quick note: Due to my pre-vacation rush, I left out one scene-dividing line in the previous chapter, after Kaoru says "ARGHH!" and before she goes up the stairs. There's a bit of time there, for her to check her mail or something similar. And in at least one place two words got squished together; sorry! And, in another quick note: Kenshin isn't definitely a gaki; that's just ONE of the things Kaoru was doing research on, in her attempts to classify him.

Akai13: Glad that you are getting the allusions! I am having so much fun putting them in, in my own deranged way, and that people get them makes me very happy. And inspires me to keep putting them in, so be warned.

AngelWingsBaka: Word complains about my comma usage. I keep going over the quota, I guess. Glad that you are learning new words!

Anonymous : Hmm.. perhaps Kenshin should get business cards made... Suicide blonde is, as far as I know, a Dorothy Parker quote. And, regarding Misao... well, you'd expect that she would recognize Kenshin if she saw him again. If.

Anne Novemberly: Always great to read your very detailed and thought-provoking reviews! Thank you! I am so glad that you like the way things are going! And I love your description of Kenshin as a "deliciously dangerous bastard." Hee. Let's see... Ok, the practice of reading everything before assigning actual grades was something Karou remembered on the spur of the moment (spurred primarily by being faced with Mr. Fujita) from her high school English teacher; the use of Post-It Notes was something she and Misao came up with. Two separate things, really. Kenshin calls out to both Sano and Kaoru in the parking lot just because he is being friendly and doesn't want to leave anybody out. In terms of who is going up and down the stairs and when they're doing it... OK, Sano heads off to grab a couple of boxes of books and heads up the stairs while Kenshin is talking with Kaoru. Then Kenshin heads off and Kaoru is distracted by his.. um.. pants. This is the place where there should have been a scene break (see above), to indicate that Kaoru, oh, probably went and got her mail or something. So by the time she is heading up the stairs, Kenshin is heading back down, while Sano is presumably finishing up putting boxes or other things away. In terms of Kaoru's grandparents: the "wrong fork when visiting" grandparents are actually her mother's grandparents. I assume that her father's parents would have been living with them at the dojo, which I picture as being several generations old (so... great-grandparents probably the ones who actually immigrated). There's the dojo, which is the oldest part of the complex, and the house, which is newer, and, well, less Japanese. I also don't picture Kaoru's mother's parents as being Japanese—maybe part Japanese, but not entirely. As you can see from Kaoru's father, that side of the family was a bit more relaxed; her mother's side was.. um.. well, the sort of people who would have various forks at dinner and expect the grandchildren to know how to use them. In terms of Misao and Kaoru and Kenshin and so on... evil authorial eyebrow waggle

Cobaltsky: Hope that this was soon enough! I really did think about trying to post while vacating, but it didn't work out, time-wise.

Corycian Muse: Kenshin is indeed being sneakily normal. At least most of the time.

Fantasy Angel Victoria: grins Well.. we'll just have to see exactly where Kenshin moved in, won't we... Kaoru was in her apartment, so she never tried to figure it out (too traumatized by the fact that Kenshin was there in the first place...)

Grimnoire: Nope, not a dream I had. I tried to integrate a bunch of things from the anime, actually—the "just for personal defense" shuttlecocks from Katsu, Saitoh's sword not having a name, his love of soba noodles, and so on. And: blushes profusely Thank you for the compliment! That is exalted company to be listed with.

Inygodusk: Don't underestimate the power of sneaky Post-It Notes! In terms of Sano's bumper stickers.. well, that seemed like something better left to the imagination. giggles In this chapter.. well, both Kenshin and Kaoru seem to have gotten a little "off-balance" in different ways.

Irridescent Twilight: Cackle away! Kaoru with a lighter.. she's bound to think of it eventually, I'm sure... Of course, now he's in the same building, it's going to be harder to burn the place down without losing all of her stuff...

JBella: Hmm... Sano seems more like the type to approve of his best friends getting together... In terms of where exactly in the building Kenshin lives.. Kaoru blockaded herself in her apartment, rather than trying to figure it out.

Kat Morning: Glad that you appreciate Hiko! Hmm.. great chant translation. Something Kaoru I'm sure feels that she could use... Possibly while brandishing her bokken in a threateninig manner.

Linay: Thank you! It thrills me that you are enjoying this! Kenshin is indeed willing to take advantage of various opportunities. And I'm so glad that you like Kaoru's inner monologues (she thinks a lot, probably more when she's nervous).

Lisica: Frogs would have been good, but I hope that you like the bar name that got picked.

Liz: Hiko got that phone to Kenshin through his own mysterious ways. Just because Kenshin knows his Master is prone to do things like that doesn't make him happier about it. Hmm.. Hiko as a junior high school teacher.. the mind boggles. Hee.

Lolo popoki: Indeed, it does not bode well.

Mz Amber Eyes: Don't worry; he's not going to be doing nothing but grabbing her and kissing her. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Nathan: Does attacking him with cheesesticks count as a maiming? She definitely WANTED to maim him.. and would have, if she's had anything sharp and pointy on hand. And, Fujita meeting Kenshin would indeed be.. interesting...

omasumioniwabanshi: Fujita could serve as the model for a range of evil professorial types. Glad that you also adore Rowan Atkinson! Hmm.. I think that the next time Word complains about long sentences or fragments, I shall brandish "The Sound and the Fury" at it.

Ookami-Hitomi: Thank you! Reading and not reviewing is ok; I love the feedback, but it's more important to me that folks are enjoying the story (I know that I also read and don't review, as much as I try to review other people's work).

Pego: Thank you for the "television story" compliment! Whee! I have visuals for it in my head, so I'm glad that other people can "see" it. Hmm.. it's not exactly on the Spike/Buffy model (Kenshin will not, for example, be given a chip that shocks him every time he makes an improper advance.. much as Kaoru might want it), but I do like the idea of that kind of sarcastic banter and so on. In terms of Kenshin's job.. keep your eyes open for upcoming hints. Kaoru does indeed have things tough in a number of ways.. her internship is indeed one of the top things. Before Kenshin showed back up, in fact, it was probably THE top thing. And pity Yahiko—he has to actually TAKE the exams in that class...

Pinay Tiger: Glad that you like the wit/sarcasm. Hope that this chapter was up to standards!

Scented Candles: Thank you! Glad that you have specific things that you are remembering from the chapter! And, thanks for trip-related wishes!

Silver Eyes Bright: Glad that you see the Buffyness! And that you like it. The kiss was.. well, Kenshin was being spontaneous. He hadn't planned on doing that until Kaoru made her unfortunate remark. And then.. well, an opportunity presented itself.

skenshingumi: Well, questions of demonic ettiquette are clearly a difficult issue. Perhaps Kaoru should look for books on that as her next research project...

SRoze: Kaoru is indeed refusing to admit chemistry between them. Well, she might have admitted chemistry, but refuses to acknowledge that it means anything.

Strawberry'd: No, he's not a gaki. That is to say, that's a possiblity on the list Kaoru's compiling, but she hasn't been able to conclude anything.

Triste1: Post-It Notes are very useful. And occasionally attack-prone. Glad that the previous chapter was cheering after work! Sorry for migraines--- that is not pleasant. You can feel free to be picky on grammar (especially in the pre-and post-vacation chapters, when I am probably more likely to miss things).


	12. Dear Old Golden Rule Days

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm.. we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, probably OOC (can't be avoided on account of the AU setting, although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers. Or at least references to spoilerish things.

Chapter Twelve: Dear Old Golden Rule Days

* * *

Kenshin had to admit, Kaoru knew how to pick a building with good water pressure, even if he'd made a couple of changes to the bathroom itself once he'd moved in. He leaned against the wall of the shower and let the spray pound down on his back and rinse out his hair.

The stairwell had been filthy. After Kaoru had stomped off, protectively clutching her pizza, Kenshin had felt obliged to make sure that the cheesestick remnants were properly disposed of, and the root beer puddles were mopped up. Then he'd felt obligated to apply a more general cleaner to the entire stair landing area, which apparently had served as a resting place for generations of chewing gum, soda spills, and several things that, given time, would probably have left the building on their own.

As always, the cleaning helped him to calm down and relax; almost like meditation, but with more concrete, lemon-scented results.

The fact that the incident on the stairway had happened in the first place clearly indicated that his current hunt was bothering him more than he'd been willing to admit to himself. Whether it was because of the quarry itself, or because of... other issues, he still wasn't sure.

And not being sure was definitely not good. Not just for him, but also for...

Kenshin scowled at his reflection as he towel-dried his long hair. He knew what he had to do next, and he really wasn't looking forward to it. After he'd pulled on boxers and a pair of comfortable jeans, he dug his new cell phone out of where he'd put it in an effort to ignore its existence and punched in a number. The phone was picked up after just one ring, as if the person on the other end had been waiting for Kenshin to call. Which was probably the case.

"It's me...yes, I'm sure that you knew... yes, actually, I do know what time it it," Kenshin said, trying to remember exactly where he'd put his watch. Interrupting the flow of words from the other end of the line, Kenshin said, "We may have a problem... No, not with that; that's going perfectly... well, if you didn't want to hear details, why did you..." He put his hand to his face and took a deep breath, then continued, "I believe that I picked up traces of Kurogasa lurking somewhere near the building tonight, but it was nothing specific enough to pinpoint or track him further. The odds against it being a coincidence are, I think, fairly high. No, I don't think it's because I've become "even more of an idiot," I think that our friend's learned a few new tricks. I think that it would be a good idea if you sent... yes, exactly. When? Good; I'll be expecting him. Good night, Master."

As he hung up the phone, Kenshin let out a long-suffering sigh. '_You'd think that after all these years, it would be easier to deal with him, but all the passing of time seems to do is give him more ammunition! And better ways to use it! Sometimes I think he spends half his time thinking up new ways to torment me...'_

After feeding the fish, he headed out into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. It was a choice between that and several rather more violent forms of stress relief, and he really didn't feel like showering again.

Besides which... he looked out the window, to where he could see Kaoru lying on her sofa, a big bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, laughing hysterically at whatever movie she was watching, and periodically sitting up to take notes on the pen and paper next to the popcorn bowl.

He wondered if she was working on a project for her job.

Kenshin smiled as he leaned against the glass. He was fairly certain that Kaoru hadn't yet figured out that he was living next to her, in the larger apartment that wrapped around the side of the courtyard and allowed him to look into her living room window. The fact that she hadn't boarded up the window was proof of that, he thought wryly. He considered himself fortunate that she had barricaded herself into her apartment after their meeting on the stairs that first day, and that Sano hadn't tried to recruit her help so that she would realize exactly _which_ apartment in her complex he was moving into.

Otherwise, he was fairly certain that he would have had to spend his first night in his new apartment checking for booby traps and moving all his knives back into the kitchen from under his sofa cushions and in his bed. He was probably lucky that she hadn't gone back to her car and tried to "accidentally" run him over in front of Sano. On the other hand, Sano was probably lucky that Kaoru hadn't been there to hear how his subtle hints about getting his best friend together with his girlfriend's cousin. This afternoon, or any of the other times he'd dropped hints...

_The afternoon sun had shone into the bar, highlighting the glasses Sano had been cleaning. _

'_See what I mean? The Paulaner is a completely different taste from what we've already got on tap."_

_Kenshin nodded as he finished his beer. "Are you two thinking of seriously expanding your beer selection?"_

"_Katsu keeps trying to convince me—wants to bring in a bunch of Belgian stuff, start adding local microbrews... I keep telling him we're not gonna turn into some overpriced hangout for beer snobs. We're compromising by adding a couple of new things. Kaoru keeps telling me that we should spend the money on "fixing up this dump," but I figure that she's just jealous of my decorating skills..."_

_He had felt something prickle across his awareness at that last sentence, and had flicked a startled glance to where Sano had been putting the glasses out to dry._

"_Kaoru? Who... is Kaoru?" Kenshin said, carefully, hiding his tension. There could be other girls with that name, in this city..._

"_Megumi's cousin, Kaoru Kamiya. You might know the name; her family's run a dojo on the other side of town for a while now."_

_Kaoru something with a "K"... _

_Kaoru who belonged to a family that taught kendo..._

"_Well... it sounds like she might have a point, Sano. Some of this stuff has been in here since the Roosevelt era..." he replied in a light tone, hiding any anticipation, repressing his need to jump straight to interrogating his friend. There were things that needed to be handled delicately, and this was definitely one of them._

"_It adds character!" Sano defended, "Who the hell would come to hang out in a bar that didn't have character? It would be like a damned airport lounge!"_

"_What does Megumi say about all this character?"_

"_Ehh..." Sano mumbled something under his breath that had Kenshin repressing a grin. "Look, I gotta go get the rest of the kegs up from the cellar—you gonna stay or are you heading out?"_

"_Thanks, Sano; I've got some work to do this afternoon. I should get going."_

"_OK—come by this weekend, you can vote in the beer selection contest Katsu's got set up."_

"_Sure. See you then." Kenshin replied, opening the door as his friend turned and headed towards the cellar. When he was sure that Sano was heading down the steps, Kenshin carefully slipped back inside the bar and went through the hallway to the office. Ignoring the piles of paper on the ancient desk, and the half-open safe that Katsu used to store his personal whiskey supply, Kenshin cast an eye on the photographs Sano had pinned up to the wall next to the computer. They overlapped in a crazy patchwork, faces and locations jumbled together. Running his fingers over the display, Kenshin found what he was looking for._

_The photograph showed a bright, sunny day at the beach, a trip Kenshin remembered Sano talking about the previous summer, mostly because Megumi had been furious at being dumped in the water after spending half an hour applying sunscreen and then another half hour letting it soak in. Sano was clowning for the camera like an idiot, holding off an attack from a spiky-haired kid Kenshin didn't recognize. Megumi, wearing her usual broad-brimmed hat, had her arms crossed as she watched the other two. And standing next to her, looking amused and grinning, blue eyes sparkling in the sun as she raised a hand to push back long black hair that seemed to have escaped from its ribbon..._

_Kenshin smiled, a slow, predatory expression that made amber spark in his eyes._

'_Well, well, well... Kaoru... how very nice to finally see you again...'_

As the teakettle came to a boil, Kenshin reluctantly pried himself away from the view. Now that he was going to be receiving assistance, he knew that he'd better get all of his information and leads in order; it wouldn't do to show up to the meeting unprepared—especially since he knew that that would leave him open to accusations of being "excessively and unreasonably distracted," an annoyance that he really didn't feel like dealing with. It had taken him long enough to live down the fact that he'd gotten himself killed by "a slip of a girl with a mediocre kitchen knife," and _that_ had been when he'd tried to keep everything a complete secret, not in a situation where he was going to have to meet and talk through the entire history of the hunt, in detail.

Well, maybe not _every_ detail.

* * *

All things considered, Kaoru mused as she dug through her bag looking for her wallet, returning the test had been fairly non-traumatic. Mr. Fujita had made one or two corrections to her grades— lowering scores and making pointed comments in the margins--- but she actually _hadn't_ had to fail anybody and, by some miracle, he had decided not to either.

'_I honestly don't know how he does it; even when he CIRCLES wrong answers and doesn't comment further it comes across as sarcastic. Wonder if they give courses on how to do that... although I'm not sure that I want to circle sarcastically. Encouragingly, yes; sympathetically, definitely; ironically, nostalgically, or humorously... maybe. Hmm... Ironically, I find myself getting nostalgic for my wallet, which I seem to have humorously buried in this over-sized purse Misao and Megumi would hamstring me for using in public...Black wallet in a black bag; what was I thinking...'_

Luckily, the wallet eventually came to light. Kaoru let out a sigh of relief. True, she had some emergency granola bars in her desk, but she always looked forward to grabbing lunch at the school cafeteria, because it was either decent enough that she could be assured of getting one good hot meal on any given weekday or so horribly awful that she could feel proud of her own cooking skills in comparison. Today was going to be Hamburger Surprise. She could tell just by reading the menu that this was going to be another boost to her own cooking confidence.

Kaoru was trying to decide what reading materials she wanted to take with her over lunch when there was a knock on the door.

'_Oh, rats. Why, Lord, does it always have to be students coming in just when I want to go to lunch? Can't we ever pass back a test without some student coming in to complain about their grade as soon as they get the chance to, and give horribly detailed reasons and sketches about why their answer is in fact right, or they were distracted by sunspot activity or something...'_

"Well, good afternoon, Ms Kamiya..." Kenshin drawled as he came into the classroom, "You certainly look very... professional today."

Kaoru glared upwards and muttered something indistinguishable under her breath about God's sense of humor when granting her prayers.

"I look professional _every_ day, idiot," Kaoru hissed, "This is where I work. At my job. Which has nothing to do with you, so please, if you're going to show up and molest me, don't do it here." The humorous, burning sparks in Kenshin's eyes made Kaoru blink and go over her sentence again, and she snapped, "Or anywhere else! You are not to bother me, here or elsewhere."

"Mmmmm..." Kenshin mused as he looked her up and down in a way that made her wish she could go hide someplace where there were blunt objects she could throw at him.

As she opened her mouth to utter a truly devastating comeback, Kenshin pulled a thermos out of the bag he was carrying and said, "Coffee?"

Kaoru blinked. "I... You what?"

Kenshin gave another one of those cheerful, open grins, and it suddenly occurred to her that he had never had such an unguarded look on his face when they had been back in high school.

"I brought coffee. Jamaican Blue. And sandwiches. And potato salad. And regular salad. And chips. Sano said that you liked sour cream and onion. I felt badly for ruining your dinner the other night, so I wanted to make it up to you."

'Oh, please; you would be here with lunch for me even if you hadn't almost attacked me on Saturday."

"True," Kenshin said unapologetically. "Now, where do you keep your coffee mug, kitten?"

Somewhat numbly, Kaoru pointed to the corner of her desk where her "Let's put the "fun" back in "dysfunctional" mug was sitting. Kenshin picked it up and raised one eyebrow as he looked at it. Then, holding it at arm's length, he took it back to one of the sinks and washed it. Thoroughly.

She frowned. First sarcastic circles, and now condemnatory mug-washing. Apparently, there was a whole range of skills that she needed to work on.

Once he'd gotten the mug clean to his own satisfaction, Kenshin poured her a full serving of coffee, to which he'd already added the perfect amount of milk and sugar. Part of her brain wondered about that, but since the rest of her brain was jumping up and down and chanting, "Coffee, coffee, coffee..." she decided to chalk it up to luck.

The coffee was so good that Kaoru simply sat and savored it, a completely blissed-out expression on her face that made Kenshin stare at her for several seconds with a look in his eyes, like he was storing it in his mind for future reference and comparative purposes. If she hadn't been drinking a damn fine cup of coffee at the time, Kaoru was pretty sure she would have snapped at him at the very least, but he'd successfully rendered her unable of anything but the mildest of glares.

Before she could remember and list all of the reasons why she was not going to eat lunch with him, Kenshin was halfway through unpacking enough food to feed a herd of elephants, or a couple of teenage boys. Then, moving with a speed which indicated he knew it was just a matter of time before she got herself together enough to throw him out of the room, he put together a plate of food and handed it to her.

She was planning on a show of stubborn resistance, really she was...but her stomach chose that exact moment to growl, loudly, and Kenshin bit back a laugh. It looked... really, really good.

"I realize it's not as... entertaining as the things you're likely to get in the cafeteria," Kenshin said lightly as he started in on his own plate, "But I've heard excellent things about this deli from several different people."

Glancing at him again, then at her plate, Kaoru bit her lip in consideration. Deli food. There shouldn't be anything wrong with deli food, right? Lots of teachers brought sandwiches or salads from the local delis, although none of them looked this good, frankly, but it wasn't as if she was being offered sandwiches _prepared_ by a demon...

'_One must not look at goblin men; one must not buy their fruits... that doesn't technically say anything about coffee. Or sandwiches, really. If he was bringing me an apple, then I'd start to get worried...'_

Glancing sideways to see Kenshin tucking into his food with great enjoyment, Kaoru risked a bite of her sandwich.

'_Oh... rats. And I was looking forward to today being a Kaoru Feels Better About Her Cooking day again... Well, I suppose if I'm eating, he won't be able to try to get me to talk. And he's drinking the coffee, too, which means that it's probably ok, and I should have thought of that before I drank it, mental note for next time an evil supernatural being brings me lunch...'_

Kenshin seemed content just to sit and eat, without saying anything beyond asking her if she wanted seconds on the coffee (yes), another sandwich (no), or a bit more of the potato salad (yes). Then he proceeded to pack everything back into the basket that he'd brought. Kaoru suddenly realized that the man had brought an actual picnic basket to school with him, and wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "Why on earth do you have a picnic basket?"

Looking up from his packing, Kenshin said, "Well, they can be really useful for carrying things... sometimes I use it to carry groceries in from the car, or books, or whatever..."

The image of Kenshin in the grocery store made Kaoru blink. Of course, that was probably because she was imagining him stalking the aisles with glowing eyes, pointed teeth, and an extreme lack of tolerance for people who took twenty minutes to decide which brand of ketchup they wanted, rather than the way he looked now, which was perfectly normal and mostly harmless.

Not for the first time, Kaoru realized that her life had gotten extremely confusing in the last week and a half or so. Or maybe it had gotten extremely confusing in high school and she was just now experiencing the results; she wasn't sure.

"Ms Kamiya?" a familiar voice sounded in the hallway, just before Mr. Fujita came back from lunch.

He was early, she thought; and, if his voice was anything to go by, not amused at having his lunch break shortened by at least one cigarette.

"Yes, Mr. Fujita?" Kaoru said as she stood up and walked back towards her desk, where her gradebook and the notes for the rest of the day were.

"If you're finished with lunch, you should look over..." There was a pause as her supervisor noticed the red-haired man in the room with her.

Something about the quality of the silence in the room made Kaoru raise her head sharply, to see... well, mostly nothing but red hair and the back of a dark green shirt.

'_How on earth did he get in front of me that quickly?'_ she thought. She also wondered why he'd done it; she could barely see around him to where Mr. Fujita stood just inside of the doorway, an expression in his eyes Kaoru couldn't remember having seen before, even when he'd lectured the entire fourth period on why the frogs they were dissecting were not to be used as short-range missiles, either whole or in part.

She couldn't see Kenshin's expression, but something about the tense set of his shoulders made a wary chill run down her spine.

"Um... Mr. Fujita, this is Kenshin..." she trailed off as she realized that Sano had never mentioned Kenshin's last name.

"Himura. Kenshin Himura," Kenshin said, his voice clipped.

"Kenshin Himura, a friend of a friend of mine; Kenshin, this is Mr. Goro Fujita, the teacher I'm working for this year. I'm sorry, Mr. Fujita; we were just finishing lunch, if you'd like to..." Kaoru tried to step around and reach her papers, but was brought up short by the fact that Kenshin moved almost before she did, without turning to face her.

'That's alright," Mr. Fujita said as he walked further into the room with a calm, collected stride. "If none of the students have come in to complain."

As he moved around towards his desk, Kenshin moved as well, which at least let Kaoru reach her gradebook.

With the strange feeling that her attempt to preserve a normal classroom environment was radically out of place, Kaoru leapt in nonetheless by saying, in a tone that she knew was a few too many degrees of chipper for her to use it successfully, "I copied down all the grades for you... if you'd like to look at them before the next class gets here. Which will be _soon_." She put particular emphasis on the last word, hoping to get her point across to the two men who had still not broken eye contact with one another.

Kenshin finally broke the silence by saying, "In that case, I'll leave you to finish work. And I'll see you after school."

For some reason, Kaoru wasn't entirely positive that that last statement was really directed towards her.

With that, Kenshin left, somehow managing to keep his eyes on the older teacher the entire time.

After his departure, the tension... or whatever it was... that had been in the room diminished significantly. Mr. Fujita stared out the doorway for several long moments, before he returned to his desk, a set to his shoulders that, oddly, reminded her of the way that Kenshin had been standing.

Then he exhaled and said, "Thank you, Ms Kamiya; I would like to see that gradebook. We need to calculate everybody's grade going into the mid-term, but that's a project we can each work on at home."

"Alright, then I'll just read through the notes for the next lecture," Kaoru said, aware that she was speaking on auto-pilot as her brain tried to work its way through whatever the hell had just happened.

'_They know each other,'_ she thought, _'You don't react like that to a total stranger; you just... don't. Unless it was another case of mutual mistaken identity, and they each thought they recognized somebody they used to know, or they both happen to look like people on America's Most Wanted and I've just never noticed, or there really WAS something funny in the potato salad and I'm now imagining hostile staring contests.'_

'_This is really, really, really not a complication that I need... bad enough when I was just having to deal with a demon in my private life, without any connection to where I work...'_

And as the rest of the class filed in, Kaoru ran through the incident again. And realized that not only had Kenshin kept his body interposed between her and Mr. Fujita the entire time, making sure that she was... well, shielded, but that Mr. Fujita's circling pattern had been trying to outflank Kenshin and make sure that _he_ was the one between the red-haired man and Kaoru.

Oh, this was an entirely new level of complications that she really didn't need. In fact, she didn't even want to think about the implications, whether from the side of Kenshin's apparently protective instincts where she was concerned, why he would focus in on her _boss_ as someone from whom she needed to be protected, or how Mr. Fujita would have any idea that Kenshin was as dangerous as Kaoru knew he could be.

On the positive side, she supposed, at least their display of testosterone seemed to have been focused on making sure the other one didn't hurt her; that was... better than it could have been, all things considered. At the very least, it meant that she could make herself wait to get to the bottom of things rather than demanding answers in the middle of class...

Although that didn't stop her from formulating several plans involving a stop at the dojo after school to see if her favorite bokken might help her convince a certain red-haired fellow-apartment-complex dweller to explain to her exactly what the _hell_, figuratively or literally, had just happened.

Before that, however, Kaoru wanted to follow through with some plans for further research that she'd come up with. The incident in the school had only spurred her sense of urgency, the effects of which she noticed the minute she started her drive over to the public library.

'_Calm driving, calm driving... yellow does ­­not mean go real fast...'_

Once in the library, she said a cheerful hello to the librarian, a friend from way back, and headed down into the basement stacks where old newspapers and magazines were kept.

'_If Sano knows Kenshin from high school, and I know Kenshin from high school, that means he was at at least two different high schools in the same city...'_

Not that she expected to find an article headlined, "Demon makes honor roll three semesters running," but if Kenshin's time at Sano's school had been as... eventful as the months he'd spent at New East Capitol, then there was bound to be something, some mention of murder or mayhem or a sudden unexpected winning streak for the fencing team...

It took her almost an hour of searching through disordered piles of yellowing paper, the dust swirling around her and dancing in the sunbeam that had found its way through the small windows before she found something, dated three years after Sano had left school. And it wasn't at all what she'd expected.

The article was short, a couple of paragraphs on a back page accompanied by a grinning, faded photo of a high school boy who looked exactly like dozens of other high school boys Kaoru had seen.

'_Scholarship fundraiser exceeds expected amounts,'_ Kaoru read, eyes widening. _'The third annual Merriton-Burgess fundraising carnival on the grounds of Westfield High enjoyed record success this year and the school Entrepreneur's Club president, Michael Jenson, announced that they hope to be able to provide up to five scholarships for Westfield students heading on to business school after graduation. The Merriton-Burgess scholarships were instituted by the district and the Club after the tragic highway accident three years ago which claimed the lives of then-president William Merriton, vice president/secretary David V. Burgess, and nine other club members. President Jenson commented, "I remember Bill and Dave; they were true entrepreneurs and great guys. If it hadn't been for that accident, they would have had a great future. It's a shame that tragedies like that happen. We hope that the scholarship fund will help to carry on their ideas and allow others to realize...'_ Rolling her eyes at the rest of the paragraph, which was more blather about the importance of dreams, business, and a stirring paean to the forces of capitalism, Kaoru put that paper back and dove back into the stacks for three years prior to that issue, hoping for a description of the accident itself.

It was in the police reports, and then again in a long, sentimental article full of quotes from other students trying to come up with appropriately deep and grief-stricken things to day. The accident itself was described in a few short paragraphs, full of words like "tragedy" and "unexplained vehicular malfunction" and "dental records," with occasional references to fire.

Kaoru bit her lip thoughtfully. While it was entirely possible that most of the business club at Westfield High had just _happened_ to meet an unfortunate fate during the period while Kenshin was there, she rather doubted it.

'_And I happen to know for a fact that fire is a great way to cover up death by pesky mysterious sword wounds...'_

The only thing substantially different about the incident at Westfield was that it was the Entrepreneur's Club and not the football team and cheerleaders that got wiped out.

'_Why? I mean, normally those two groups don't even really speak to each other... it's like comparing apples and... and... some other, more businesslike fruit...it doesn't make sense... unless one of them did something to piss him off, and maybe one of the jocks did the same thing, and so he went after the whole group just on the principle of the thing? Or he rolled one die twenty and came up with pinstripes the first time and jockstraps the second?'_

It was another mystery, wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in an annoyance. The one good thing...well, maybe not a _good_ thing, but a definite thing... was that Kaoru now knew that what had happened at New East Capital wasn't a one-time occurrence. Put together with Westfield, it made a pattern—a pattern Kaoru had a feeling she would find in other places, if she took the time to look for it.

Kenshin had killed before.

And she had no doubt that, given the chance, he would do it again.

* * *

There was a lurking patch of shadow against the school wall as Kaoru's supervising teacher headed out towards his car.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Very subtle, Battousai. Did you honestly think that I wouldn't notice you were over there? What do you think you've been doing all afternoon? Lurking with intent to annoy?"

Kenshin detached himself from the shadows, hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes glowing amber as he approached the taller man.

"Stay away from her, Saitoh," he said, without preamble, his voice tinged by a low growl.

"Who, exactly, would you be referring to?" the teacher replied, one eyebrow raised with perfectly polite sarcasm.

There was more than a hint of fangs in the snarl that answered him, and the look on Kenshin's face was enough to freeze the blood in a person's veins.

"You do realize, moron, that Ms Kamiya is currently working for me, until the end of the year? A decision, by the way, that I had nothing to do with. Unless you're planning on... _convincing _the entire board responsible for student teaching assignments that the girl needs to be elsewhere, that is the way things are going to stay."

"I'm sure that there's at least _one_ other way to change the situation," Kenshin said, with cold meaning.

"I fail to see why this is a situation that concerns you in the least," Saitoh said calmly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. If he was going to be forced to have a conversation with the annoying redhead, he should at least be able to smoke. That way, it wouldn't be a complete waste of his time.

Taking a long drag before exhaling, Saitoh continued, "Ms Kamiya is not..." He paused, as if considering for the first time how to describe the young woman he had been working with daily for the past several months. "I have never seen any indication of anything about her that would be reason for her to attract... _your_ sort of attention, Battousai. If I had, rest assured that I would have taken care of it my-..."

"_Stay away from her, Wolf_!"

Saitoh blinked at the sheer venom in Kenshin's tone, the way his hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword, the tension in his posture that showed he was on the edge of attacking.

The only thing that broke the silence in the parking lot was the sound of Saitoh once again slowly taking a drag of his cigarette and exhaling thoughtfully.

Finally, choosing his words carefully, he said, "Ms Kamiya has the makings of an exceptional teacher. One who can have a true impact in the lives of her students. The school system needs as many people like her as it can get, and as her mentor, it is my responsibility to make sure that she learns the skills she needs to acquire for the classroom and makes it through the training period unscathed and in one piece. So to speak. And, as you know, Battousai, I take my responsibilities very seriously."

Subtle, but perfectly clear.

Having finished, Saitoh calmly strolled past the demon standing in the parking lot, his expression still set, but with something like understanding lurking below the surface.

When he had reached his car, Saitoh said, without turning around, "By the way, Battousai... I see that you're still borrowing a sword. As I recall, there was a very _interesting_ set of rumors about why exactly that is."

If it hadn't been contrary to the studied nonchalance he was projecting, Saitoh would have turned around, just to catch the faint blush he was sure was visible on the other man's face even as he said in a perfectly calm, slightly clipped tone, "There are always rumors. It means nothing."

"No doubt," Saitoh said with a wolfish smirk as he got into the car, "Farewell, Battousai."

As he drove off, he looked in the rearview mirror. As he had expected, there was no sign that anybody else had ever been in the parking lot. Except possibly for a slightly darker patch of shadow against part of the wall.

* * *

Next chapter: Misao with a mission, and other forms of lingering doom.

In this chapter I don't own: "Starman," still don't own Christina Rosetti's "Goblin Market," one of Mary Engelbreit's "Let's Put the "fun" back in "dysfunctional"" mugs (although I want one), "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," or the Book of Genesis.

Author's Note (happily bopping along in a caffeinated fashion to "Emanuela"): Hmm.. so that's why Kenshin was in attack mode on the stairs (Hey, according to the translations, "Kurogasa" means "Black Hat of Rushes," did you know that? I did not know that. --innocent authorial whistle--)

Reviewer Responses: Lots of people felt that the previous chapter had far too little Kenshin in it—hope that this corrects that problem! Many people also felt that Misao has a promising future as a fashion consultant. Although perhaps only with people who have been properly fortified with chocolate and caffeine. Thank you to everybody who continues to write encouraging things and share how much fun they're having reading this. This makes me very happy, since I'm having a blast writing it. Plus, of course, reviews inspire me to post. grins And, to those who asked where exactly Kenshin had moved to, and why he attacked her on the stairs, I hope that this makes some things clearer! And now, some more specific reviewer comments... sorry if I forget to answer anything! And for any Quick Edit-related wackiness. Sigh.

AngelWingsbaka: Sorry that you were netless for a while (that always drives me crazy); glad that you are back!

Bradybunch4529: It makes me very happy that you find the story vividly written. I try to put in lots of detail without going overboard. Glad that you approve of Kaoru's.. um.. direct approach to solving her problems.

bluerelic: Ah, that is an excellent question.

Crimson Rayne: giggles Glad that you approve of Kaoru's thought processes.

Crystal Winds: I try! A gaki is one of the possible demon types Kaoru was researching earlier on (it's a Japanese demon, and comes in several different flavors—a kind that lives off incense smoke, one that drinks blood, one that eats souls.. possibly another, but I'm not sure).

elgaladangel: Thank you! I really am trying to do characterization and plot, so I'm glad its working. And, thank you re: disclaimer.

Fairy Tail Faerie: Thank you! Glad that you appreciate the interactions between Kenshin and Kaoru. He does indeed seem to have a talent for catching her off-guard...

fantasy angel victoria: Clothes shopping is indeed a scary and dangerous pastime. grins In terms of Kenshin's reaction.. well, we'll just have to wait and see if Kaoru succeeds in her cunning plan to put that bag somewhere where not even a determined Weasel-Girl could find it.

Grimnoire: Hmmm.. another character who clearly needs business cards ("Fashion Consultant Extraordinaire! Embarassing Outfits Mocked and Rejected.. unless they're sexy clubbing outfits, in which case they will be purchased whether you want them or not").

Iridescent Twilight: Yup, he does. I think that Kaoru was too hungry and annoyed in the stairs to stick around. She knew that if she did, she'd be angry enough to bean Kenshin with the pizza, and since she didn't want to risk further damage to her dinner...better to just leave.

Jbella: Hope that this answers some questions! And that there are helpful—or perhaps confusing—hints in this chapter.

lady scorpio: To answer your question.. --shakes Mystical Authorial Eight-Ball: "Definitely Possible"

lolo popoki: Umm.. well...err... remember, Misao is the one who was making out with her boyfriend in the library in high school. It's..um.. character consistency! Err... And, yes, Kenshin does seem to get food thrown at him a lot. I don't know why; I don't do it on purpose...

luvHaru7: Did this chapter answer your "mistaken identity" question? For your other question, see my answer to lady scorpio. In terms of the aquarium, it's probably something with lots of bright tropical fish. He can afford to have something complicated like that.

MZ. AmbER EYES: Look! Kenshin POV!

Nekotsuki: Yay! I was hoping that life had not completely run you over (can you tell I am eager for the last chapter of "Tanabata Jasmine," even though then it will --sniffle-- be over).

Ookami-Hitomi: Glad that you approve of the differerent sides of Kenshin!

omasuoniwabanshi: Misao as a fashion consultant.. as long as you gave her enough caffeine, she would do very well, I think. imagines Misao dragging Aoshi to the mall Well, for most people. I agree with you about Quick Edit.. I do as little with it as possible.

openwindow: giggles Thank you for the title! I shall attempt to live up to it!

Pinay Tiger: Yes.. Misao in this story.. she is rather... well.

random baka: Whether or not Kaoru's Grand Boyfriend Plan will succeed... --shakes Mystical Authorial Eight Ball: "Only time will tell."

Silver Eyes Bright: Hmm... a change in attitude? I think Kenshin was just willing to take advantage of circumstances that worked in his favor.

Skenshingumi: Sorry that you were worried about the lack of Kenshin in Chapter 11! Hope that this chapter makes things balance out overall (even though there were no clubs in sight..).

sRoze: Perhaps I should put in warning labels before particularly dangerous "HAHA!" moments? Good thing that Kenshin didn't suggest that Kaoru, um, clean him off that way.:-) In terms of "Early and Late"... shakes Mystical Authorial Eight Ball: "Extremely High Probability"

Strawberry'd: Does this help explain who Kenshin was expecting?

Triste1: sighs You know, more verbs got away from me last week... Not just in Chapter 11, but in other things I was writing. Very strange. I will have to go and correct that after posting this chapter; thank you for pointing it out! I'm glad that you like seeing Kaoru as a teacher. It's really what I see her doing—she's passionate about kendo, but she's equally passionate about teaching, and I like carrying that over to a modern AU setting like this one. In "Early and Late," I made her a social studies teacher, which was also fun. Definitely read "The Devil's Cub" if you get a chance—the hero strongly reminds me of a rather cranky Battousai, and the heroine is quite Kaoru-esque. There's also a prequel called, I believe, "These Old Shades," which is the story of the hero's parents. Wouldn't recommend "Bath Tangle," though.

Vathara: Definitely another player. Misao and the mall... sure to strike fear into the hearts of.. well, Kaoru, for one thing.

Youkoforever: I'm sure Kaoru could have thought of more appropriate insults if she'd had more time and was less distracted by other things. Perhaps she should start a list for future reference...


	13. Bokkens, Bangles, and Beads

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Thirteen: Bokkens, Bangles, and Beads

* * *

Bringing up her bokken, Kaoru slowly demonstrated the series of moves that she wanted her beginning kendo class to work on during the day's lesson. She held each position while she explained it, then had the students mimic it several times while she walked around and corrected people on their posture, grip, and the angles at which they were striking. When she was satisfied that everybody had the basic motions down, Kaoru declared, "OK! I want everybody to repeat that set of strokes two hundred times, then we're going to pair off and get some sparring in before the end of class. There's a beginner's tournament coming up before Christmas, and I think it would be a great opportunity for all of you to get out there and test your skills against students from other dojos. For those of you who want to sign up, I'll have flyers available next week. Now, everybody ready? Start counting!"

Walking around the room, Kaoru kept a careful eye on her students' progress and technique. Teaching classes a couple of times a week was not only an excellent way for her to keep up her own skills sharp, it was, frankly, great to see young kids getting excited about her family's discipline.

Besides which, the time she spent watching her students practice was good for thinking over whatever other problems she might be having. Calling her thoughts to order, she made a mental list of what she wanted to do while the sound of a group of ten-year-olds counting up to two hundred echoed through the training hall.

First: Mental Post-It note to bring her favorite bokken from the dojo to her new apartment. True, that would mean that she would have to either bring it back or use a spare when she was training or sparring, but since she had a car now, that shouldn't be a problem. Her second-favorite bokken could just stay at her apartment, on the grounds that it couldn't hurt to have a spare. Well, actually, she was hoping that it _could_ hurt, just not her.

Second: Continue to figure out a way to discover exactly what had happened in the classroom earlier that week when Kenshin and Mr. Fujita had had their testosterone poisoning moment in the classroom. So far, her efforts had been entirely unsuccessful. The next day she had spent almost the entire morning with her brow surreptitiously furrowed, trying to figure out ways to casually approach her supervisor and broach the topic of men with red hair and scars, mysterious reactions to. Unfortunately, given Mr. Fujita's expression and the way that he had written on the board with sharp strokes, glaring at the chalk, Kaoru had quailed slightly at the prospect of asking him what he wanted her to do about collecting the class project sheets, let alone anything having to do with the way that he and Kenshin had reacted to one another. That afternoon, Kaoru had tried to work her way up to asking important questions like, "Do you know Kenshin from somewhere, and what exactly about him made both of you bristle like alleycats fighting over a nice piece of fish?" by starting out with an apology for the impromptu classroom picnic. Unfortunately, he had parried her attempts with enviable smoothness, and an expression which clearly said, "What strange reaction to an utterly random red-headed visitor who I have certainly never seen before in my life, Ms Kamiya?" His placidity had been absolutely infuriating, because while all of her spider senses were jumping up and down and screaming that _something_, probably something _extremely important_ had happened the other day, she couldn't find a way to make him spill about it. To add insult to annoyance, she hadn't even caught a glimpse of Kenshin for the past several days and so couldn't try to find anything out from him. Not that she was all that confident in her ability to question Kenshin about her supervisor, since she had had such woeful success in getting him to do anything else, but it would have doubled the number of people she could interrogate, and, from a statistical point of view, that should also have done good things for her chances of finding something out. At the moment, all she had was a strong desire to get the two men in a room and hit them over the head with a blunt argument.

Third: More research into demons, demonic weaponry, and how to kill the first and dispose of the second in a permanent fashion. What she had found in the library had made her even twitchier about resolving things, but she felt like she was no closer to figuring out what Kenshin was and what she could do about it than she had been before. Well, except in the sense of having eliminated a whole range of possibilities. That was technically progress, she supposed. In a glass-still-half-empty kind of way.

After she dismissed the class for the day, Kaoru looked over to where her father had been watching the sparring matches. She grinned at him and said, "They're really getting better, I think. At least five are definitely going to compete in December, and a couple more are thinking about it."

"That's great, hon! How's the teaching schedule here working out with your real job, since you've moved?" Koshijiro asked, moving out of the doorframe and into the room. The advanced class that he taught and Kaoru participated in was going to start in another twenty minutes, and he clearly wanted to start warming up before the students started arriving.

"I'm fine, Dad," Kaoru replied with a grin. "You don't need to worry; I am eating regularly and sleeping well and making sure to brush my teeth. I am driving carefully, keeping up with local current events, looking both ways before I cross the street, and being kind to animals. Really."

Her father looked a bit sheepish at her response. "I know you're doing fine, sweetie, and I'm proud of you. It's just a big step, and, as your father, I want to know that things are going well."

"They are!" Kaoru reassured him cheerfully, her grin never failing.

It was technically true. Mostly. Granted, the keeping up with local current events was mostly to see if anything had happened that seemed to be potentially demonic, the eating well consisted of her own cooking and school food, which Kaoru knew was stretching the definition a bit, and the only animal in her life at the moment was their extremely placid and easy-going cat Schroedinger, but she didn't feel a need to go into details.

After class, Kaoru chatted some more with her father as they packed up the equipment. She shared a few anecdotes about her job that managed not to embarrass her brother, and they tried to work out some of the logistics for upcoming tournaments. The fact that she now had a car made things easier; the fact that she wasn't living at home any more made things a bit more difficult, and this was the first time they had had to deal with it. As long as she was home, Kaoru scrounged around in the attic, accompanied by Shroedinger, who spent the time stalking dust particles, and dug through boxes of books until she found several fairytale collections that she had been fond of reading as a child.

'_I've looked through myths and legends and folklore; fairy tales are kind of a long shot, but it can't hurt. And besides which, they're fun.'_

Back at her own apartment, Kaoru checked her messages, winced at Misao's enthusiastic reminder of their planned clubbing expedition, and sorted her mail.

After dinner, she curled up on the couch with her books, put the TV on something innocuous, and spent some quality time with a wide range of ridiculously beautiful princesses, occasionally idiotic princes, enchanted animals, and evil witches and wizards.

As she got ready for bed and brushed her hair out, she considered everything she had read.

'_Hmm... I wonder if Kenshin does something like keep his life in an egg under a tree on the other side of a forest over a river in a basement in a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying, "Beware of the Leopard"... in that case, I just need to find a random old beggar woman to help out so that she can give me magical combs and hairpins and.. and... or was it the beautiful daughter of the evil magician who had all the fun toys in that story... gah, Kenshin with a child, that's a scary thought...At any rate, even supposing killing him involves destroying some object or.. or... wait... do I need to destroy his sword, maybe? Because that would be... I mean, not Fires of Mount Doom tough, but it's not like I could toss it into the fireplace and solve things... And it still leaves me with the problem of getting the sword from where I hid it and transporting it someplace where I could get it melted... and explaining why I wanted to melt a katana...'_

She was glad that at least her grandfather's wards and charms and whatever else he had done seemed to be holding up.

Having a demon knocking on her family's door and asking if he could please have his sword back had the potential to be a very, very bad thing.

* * *

The fact that her phone kept ringing long enough for Kaoru to leap out of the post-Friday-practice shower, wrap herself in her towel, and dash out to the living room with her wet hair swinging behind her should have been a warning not to answer it.

Really, there was only one person she knew who had that particularly persistent style when calling her. And it was never a good sign.

'Hello, Kamiya Res...Misao!" Kaoru said, suddenly remembering why she had a Post-It note stuck to the table next to her phone with "Do NOT answer after fifteen rings!" written on it in large letters, with underlining.

'_Stupid social Pavlovian "Answer the ringing phone! Answer it! Answer it!" conditioning...'_ she thought with annoyance as she tried to focus on what Misao was saying. It was always best to pay very close attention to her overly perky friend, because if you ignored her and just made the standard, vaguely affirmative "Uh-huh...uh-huh.." noises over the phone, you often found yourself agreeing to things that would normally have had you running away and screaming in terror.

"... still going to the club with us tonight, right, Kaoru?"

"Yes, Misao. I will be ready for you to pick my up at nine-thirty, as we agreed..."

"We did _not_ agree to that; you declared it and I objected, because you are incapable of dressing yourself properly on your own."

"Not wearing that outfit, Misao."

She could almost hear her friend pouting over the phone, and she smiled slightly to herself as she paced. She might have agreed to this outing; she might even, in the recesses of her mind, be planning on having a fun time, with drinks, some dancing, and de-stressing with her friends, but that did not mean she was going to leave her house dressed in a "Randy sex kitten, buy me one drink and I'll..." outfit.

"But, _Kaoru_," Misao pleaded, "It looked fabulous on you! And we spent so long picking it out! What are you planning on wearing instead?"

"I... I don't know yet: I just finished showering." Kaoru said, frowning slightly. She kept feeling a prickling on the back of her neck that she couldn't explain, and it was really driving her crazy; that sort of feeling you get when somebody is staring, but there was nobody else in the apartment, or in the closet, or in the courtyard, and ...

'Great! Then I can come over right now and help you!" came the cheerful declaration from the other end of the phone.

"Uh-huh..." Kaoru said absent-mindedly.

'_Oh, crap...'_

"I mean, it won't be any trouble, and... hey! Really? OK, I'll be right there—get your make-up out, and pick a couple of outfits for me to reject. Bye!"

"Um...but...Misao! No! I..." Kaoru realized she was talking to a dead line, and sighed dejectedly. She was doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed.

Looking at her clock, she attempted to figure out how long it would take a hyperactive weasel-girl to get from her apartment over to where Kaoru lived. With any luck, she could be dressed, out the door, and in some sort of neutral location before...

Her frantic plans were interrupted by a loud knocking on her door. Kaoru frowned. Dashing back into her bedroom to throw on a bathrobe, she went to answer it.

She barely had the door opened before Misao bounced into the room, a large box Kaoru recognized as her personal and extensive make-up and hair product collection in one hand and several shopping bags in the other.

"Mi... what... ... how fast did you... You were calling me from your car, weren't you?" Kaoru demanded, giving her friend a glare that had no effect whatsoever.

"Well, I figured if I just came over and picked you up, you and the Silver Streak wouldn't have an excuse to sneak away from the evening early," she called back over her shoulder as she went into Kaoru's bedroom.

"You are not naming my car, Misao."

"But..."

"Listen, oh girl whose habit of giving things cute nicknames has cost her at least one boyfriend..."

Blithely ignoring Kaoru, Misao put down the silver arm bangles she had been fiddling with and started looking through her closet. "No... no...no... Megumi and I are dragging you shopping next weekend...no...no... Ah-ha!" she cried as she lunged forward triumphantly and pulled the bag from their shopping trip from where Kaoru had stuffed it in the hopes that it would never see the light of day again.

Thrusting the bag into her friend's arms, Misao instructed, "Put these on. And wear that black thong; it will work really well with the pants. When you're done, I'll be out in the living room to do your hair and make-up... where's your dryer? I'll just take it with me..."

And with that, Hurricane Misao swept out into the living room, leaving Kaoru to wonder if she could manage to climb out of the window and shimmy down a drainpipe or something similar before Misao figured out how to break down the bedroom door.

Probably not, because that was the sort of thing that only worked once.

'_Ok...ok... maybe this won't be that bad. Maybe you can manage to snag a coat. And ski pants. And possibly a large burlap sack...'_

Searching for the black thong Misao had mentioned, Kaoru had a moment of blushing annoyance as she looked at her perfectly-organized drawer.

On the other hand, now that she thought about it, there were some distinct advantages to going to the club in Misao's chosen outfit. After all, Sano would be there to discourage anybody who got too annoying. And, she reminded herself, she'd already decided that she was going to try to find somebody she wouldn't mind being in a relationship with.

Well, maybe not a _relationship_, she amended, pulling on the black leather pants Misao had found for her. Someone she could spend time with socially, go to the movies with, grab dinner with... possibly sleep with to eliminate the possibility that a demon wanted her as a virgin sacrifice...

'_He certainly hasn't been acting as if he needs you to stay a virgin...'_ a sarcastic voice in her head piped up, bringing a host of memories that made her cheeks turn bright red.

"Kaoru?" Misao's voice piped up from the living room "Do you need help with anything?"

'_Deep breaths, deep breaths; thoughts of things other than Kenshin's mouth on your neck, on your mouth... dammit! School exams. Cafeteria fish fry. Shopping expedition with Misao and Megumi... wait a minute... Misao said something about... next weekend... shopping... oh...Cremona Gardens on a pogo stick...I thought it was bad when it was just one of them...'_

Taking a deep breath to fortify herself against present and future fashion terrors, Kaoru headed out into the living room.

Misao had practically covered the coffee table with cosmetics, including some Kaoru couldn't imagine a use for, and was holding a bottle of what Kaoru hoped wasn't the temporary hair coloring Misao had promised she wouldn't use again after that last incident.

Oh... she was just doomed, she knew it.

* * *

Next Chapter: It's murder on the dance floor... but you'd better not kill the groove...

Author's Note: Short chapter; it's been that kind of week. Yeah. Um...However, next week's chapter will be much longer, to make up for it. And, we shall finally arrive at the long-awaited club scene. In other news, the wonderful Dragonsdaughter has done another lovely fanart picture, "If I Burn This, Do You Think She'll Believe It Was An Accident?" featuring Kaoru contemplating. And being contemplated. Hee. The address is: http/dragondee(dot)deviantart(dot)com/. If you haven't seen her other "Moonlight" pictures, check them out as well!

In this chapter, I do not own: The song "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" from "Kismet," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode "I Was Made to Love You," "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the fairy tale with the egg, the title of which I do not remember, Dorothy L. Sayers' "Strong Poison," "The Lord of the Rings," or Sophie Ellis Bextor's 'Murder on the dance floor".

Reviewer Responses (short, because it's late, and I am rather tired): Thank you, Ladies, Gentlemen, and Squirrels! Whee! Over 400 reviews! I really am trying to keep to my update schedule.. which might get a bit wonky over the summer, since I'm going to have much more limited Internet access. Ah well. Thank you again to everybody who is reviewing; I love the feedback. Sorry that I can't answer everybody! And reviews often make me think about things, or help give me ideas, which is also good. Thank you for the milk, cookies, pizza, offers of soba, and so on! Hmm.. I wonder if I should put a warning regarding the risk of loud hysterical laughter that makes people in the room think you're insane, since it's been mentioned several times...

cowers under the desk because of this chapter's lack of Kenshin...Um.. he was off.. um.. elsewhere! Had important things to take care of this week! Really! Tried to find him, but he just was nowhere around!

AngelWingsbaka: Hmm.. overweight Saitoh... oh, dear. No, no, he's..um.. well, Saitoh.

Anne Novemberly: giggles Thank you! And, yes, you are correct about the appearance of the clothes Kaoru is now wishing she had "accidentally misplaced in a freak blowtorch mishap" or something similar. Hmm.. a mysterious guy in a black fedora lurking around? No idea... innocent whistling

ApatheticEmpath2: Thank you! And, yup, Fujita is Saitoh's alias.

Bradybunch4529: Glad that you liked the flashback! And the tension! Yes.. Kenshin's Master does seem to be the type to not let Kenshin live that incident at Kaoru's school down.

Brigitte: sings along Thank you!

Capito Celcior: I haven't ever tried Belgian beer, but I have heard good things about it, and a friend once worked at a bar in Chicago that specialized in it. It seemed like a good choice for Katsu to suggest as a way to make their bar more exclusive; glad that you approve!

Cobaltsky: It probably would have been a bad idea for them to start fighting in the classroom when the students were about to come back... In terms of the help Kenshin is expecting... evil authorial grin

Crystal Winds: Thank you! Glad to help with providing information! Well, you know, some information. looks innocent Hmmm... however could those two know each other.. must be that mistaken identity thing. Or possibly evil twins. Yeah, that's the ticket...

fantasy angel victoria: Thank you! I liked writing their interaction. And yes, Chapter 12 fills in some details of what was going through Kenshin's mind at the end of Chapter 11. No clubbing this chapter, but Misao has managed to select Kaoru's outfit for the evening, so it is fast approaching!

girl from ipanema: At the moment, she kind of seems to be in ears-back-hiss-scratch mode... fierce attack kitten.

Grimnoire: Hmm... Demonic Kenshin all June Cleaver-y.. the mind boggles. And then runs. Very quickly.

Indygodusk: Saitoh pays attention to rumors...and rumors about Battousai being embarassed by having some girl steal his sword? Oh, that's something he would remember. And savor. Kaoru did indeed try the subtle figuring out, but alas, it did not work. Yes, Kaoru still practices and teaches kendo—she hasn't been in her new apartment that long, so this is the first time I've talked about her practice schedule and so on.

Iridescent Twilight: Look! New outfit is in place and ready for use in the next chapter! Which will hopefully answer some other questions!

jess16: Thank you! I am always happy that people like the way this story is AU.

Jewelle2: throws rope Hm... I am not sure that this chapter will help with that hanging problem...

Lio and luvHaru7: Yup.. Kaoru's supervising teacher, responsible for molding innocent young minds. Scary thought.

lolo popoki: Glad to cheer you! Writing this for me is always a good break after a long day, so I'm glad that reading it works the same way.

MZ AmbER EYES: True, it was indeed on purpose. Bwa ha ha! Ahem! Sorry— evil laughter just occasionally happens.

NalaravaththeRed: Well, he was mentioned before, but only as Harmless Supervising Teacher Goro Fujita, terror of junior high school students.

Nekotsuki: You finished "Tanabata Jasmine"! Whee! Congratulations! And tiny sniffles because it was such a great story, and now it's all done.

Ookami-Hitomi: Thank you!

omasuoniwabanshi: Hey, I can type your pen name without looking at it and going letter by letter now! Whee! Yum, soba... I don't know if this counts as more Saitoh or not, but Kaoru at least tried to find the answers to some of your questions!

Pia Bartolini: Hi! So nice to have you here! And I am thrilled that you finally got time to read this!

pruningshears: Hope that this is soon enough!

Sally: Thank you! Nice to have new folks reviewing!

Silver Eyes Bright: Kenshin had one scar in Chapter 1 already (no explanations given.. yet), and then Kaoru gave him the other one in Chapter 3. For other questions.. tune in next week! And, um, after that.

skenshingumi: Seems strange to say glad that you liked the Kenshin content after this chapter had very little... on the other hand, the next chapter will hopefully make up for it! looks at length of story Um.. no worries...

Strawberry'd: Oh, Kenshin had a very good view of Kaoru's..um.. living room... in this chapter. Hee.

WraithWoLf368: Thank you! I am terribly flattered.

yawarako: Glad that you like the subtleness!


	14. Bow and Arrow

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers, please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Fourteen: Bow and Arrow

* * *

In order to understand the decoration scheme at Killer Bluez, all you really had to know was that it belonged to a friend of Misao's. In fact, converting the former warehouse into a three-story dance club and bar had been Misao's senior design project for her architecture degree.

Kaoru leaned against the railing on the third level and looked down at the masses of people milling about amidst the brightly colored lights of the dance floor. She was currently alternating between watching a couple whose attempts to incorporate swing dancing moves into a pop and techno music mix was bound to result in serious bodily injury to themselves or others, given the crowds, and a woman who seemed to be trying to juggle two different men, both on and off the dance floor.

"We are bringing you the drinks in Bavaria; yes, in Bavaria, where the sheep seldom wear spectacles!" Misao proclaimed cheerfully as she approached the table, carrying two very colorful-looking drinks with complicated garnishes involving fruit and little paper umbrellas.

"Speaking of spectacles, Misao, do you _have_ to make one of yourself at every opportunity?" Kaoru shot back, blushing slightly as her friend's exuberance caused several stares in their direction.

"What?" Misao said, looking around. Then, switching topics with her usual speed and randomness, she continued "Hey, I think you're right about film noir hat trends... there was this guy downstairs in one of those fedora thingies... or possibly he's a leftover from the 1940s; he really didn't look like he had any idea what he was doing in a dance club."

"Well, maybe he can wander onto the floor and get attacked by the Swing People—did you see them?"

Misao leaned over the balcony and said, "No, but – HEY! SANO! MEGUMI! UP HERE!"

Kaoru began to wonder if hiding under the table was a viable option for the rest of the evening.

When their other friends arrived, they had both already gotten drinks—beer for Sano, and some kind of classic, elegant cocktail Kaoru couldn't remember the name of for Megumi.

'_The day that Megumi gets a cocktail that's got little paper umbrellas and fruit in it is the day Dad asks me to prepare the family Thanksgiving dinner by myself... good grief, she even drinks it like she's in a black and white movie.. Sano's going to need to buy himself a hat...'_

"Wow, Missy, _that_ is a sharp outfit!" Sano said, admiringly.

Kaoru blushed, but Misao leapt in, "Isn't it great? Kaoru and I picked it out last week. Well, I picked it out and Kaoru protested. But it's great, and I don't know why she kept complaining and threatening to smuggle a burlap sack into the club with her."

"Because, Misao, the last time I let you pick my outfit for an evening out I ended up getting propositioned by a table of drunken senior citizens!" Kaoru said, taking a large sip of her drink to block out _that_ particular memory.

"Oh, please, I refuse to be held responsible for the idiocies of others. Besides which, there are no senior citizens here tonight, you look fabulous, and there is a very cute guy over there who's just waiting to ask you to dance."

"Huh?" Kaoru spun sharply, her nerves on alert. She relaxed when she realized that the boy in question had mild blue eyes, cropped blonde hair, and a very nervous expression that rapidly turned into a blush when he caught her looking back at him.

"Don't stare! You'll scare him off!" Megumi teased laughingly. Kaoru rolled her eyes. No use in pointing out that she didn't want a guy who was going to run off the minute the object of his interest showed signs of being interested in return.

Besides which, she was looking for normal and harmless, right? If slightly nervous... possibly boring... were side effects, so be it.

"Go _over_ there!" Misao hissed in an excited stage whisper. "See, this is your problem; you come to these places, and then you never make a move, and if you don't get in there and _make_ a move, you're never going... to... find..."

Kaoru had already opened her mouth to acerbically comment that the only reason she _came_ to these places was because her friends dragged her out to them, not because she was looking for a man... well, except for tonight, but that didn't count. Then she realized that Misao had trailed off mid-sentence, and was staring, mouth slightly agape, over towards one corner of the room.

Kaoru blinked, then followed the line of Misao's vision to where a tall, slim man in a black suit and pristine white trenchcoat was leaning against the wall with an air of utterly cool nonchalance. He seemed to occupy a completely different space from the noise of the music and chatter filling the club. Black bangs fell across his forehead, and eyes the color of light reflecting through glacial ice scanned the crowds, not seeming to notice the girl with the long braid who was staring at him.

'The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea..._'_ Kaoru thought as she looked at him.

"Wow, guys, check it out; the Weasel's gone speechless..." Sano said

"Please don't say that," Megumi implored, "I think I read somewhere that that's a sign of the impending Apocalypse."

Finally blinking and turning back to her friends, Misao said, "Um... I'm going to... I have to... bye, guys!" she finally finished, dashing off, her drink forgotten.

Sano laughed so hard he almost choked on his beer, and Megumi had to hit his back several times. Kaoru was pretty sure it wasn't her imagination that her cousin was pounding on him slightly harder than absolutely necessary.

When he finally recovered enough to speak, Sano said, "Twenty bucks on the Weasel Girl."

"To do what?" Kaoru said, giggling as she picked up her drink.

Sano looked puzzled. "Um... uh... well, twenty bucks that Trenchcoat Boy won't know what hit him."

"Oh, I think that we all know better than to take _that_ bet," Megumi chuckled.

"Hear, hear!" Kaoru seconded, raising her glass. She paused after taking a drink and said, "What's she doing now?"

Sano looked over in the direction Misao had dashed and reported, "Well, she seems to have gotten over the being struck silent thing just fine... and the need to breathe... Wow, if he actually believes that that was _really_ an accident, I don't think he's got the brains to keep up with our Misao..."

"What? What? What'd she do?" Kaoru said excitedly

"If you're that interested, why aren't _you_ looking, Missy?"

"Don't be silly, Sano; it would be rude for me to turn around and stare at her."

"Oh, but having me do it is ok?"

"Of course; you're much ruder than I am," Kaoru replied casually, twirling the paper parasol from her drink between her fingers.

Sano opened his mouth indignantly, but before he could come up with a response, a quiet voice from behind Kaoru said, "Um? Miss? Hi? Um... I'm Roger. Er. I was wondering... that is... would you like to... I mean, er...Hi, I'm Roger."

Kaoru turned and blinked at the blond standing there, his hands at his sides as if he was holding them back from wringing them nervously.

'_Well, if I was coming up to talk to a stranger who was wearing this outfit, I suppose that I would be nervous too!'_ she thought, _'Don't laugh at him, Kaoru, whatever you do; you'll not only stomp all over his fragile male ego, Sano will never let you forget it after that "ruder than I am" comment... serious thoughts, serious thoughts... nineteenth century Russian social conditions... destruction of the tropical rainforests... amnesiac puppies...'_

Having composed her expression into something that she hoped was friendly but not _too_ friendly, Kaoru said, "Hi, Roger. I'm Kaoru, This is Sano and Megumi."

"Hi... hi..." Roger said, nodding at the other two. "Um... Kaoru? Would you like to, er, dance? With me?"

"That sounds lovely!" Kaoru said. She realized that she was talking to him in the same calming tone she used for nervous students and winced internally. Less than ideal in terms of somebody she would want to be in a relationship with, even a distractionary one. On the other hand, she consoled herself, it was probably just nerves, and once he had relaxed, he would turn out to be be a perfectly charming conversationalist. She didn't know anybody who didn't at least occasionally get nervous and have trouble putting a sentence together, except for... well, actually, now she couldn't even say that about Misao.

Kaoru wasn't entirely certain that that made her feel much better as she put her drink down before Roger took her hand to lead her to the dance floor.

The music was fairly fast, and loud, so at least neither of them had to worry about a conversation.

'_Right, so, the plan is, dance with him until he's more comfortable, then drag him off to get some drinks and have a conversation. Followed by either more dancing, if he's good at it when he's not busy being nervous, and then meeting back up with Sano and Megumi... if I think it won't traumatize him or me excessively."_

Kaoru got lost in the feel of the beat, the glow of the lights on the dance floor. After a slightly shaky start, Roger seemed to be getting the hang of it, and Kaoru gave him an encouraging, possibly slightly flirtatious, look and spun so that she was facing the same direction while dancing in front of him as the song changed to something slower.

'_I'm tired... of playing... Playing with this bow and arrow...Gonna give my heart away; Leave it to the other girls to play...For I've been a temptress too long...'_ she mentally sang to herself. _'If Misao is going to make me wear these pants, I might as well make the most of them... I can't believe I just thought that; Weasel Girl is wearing off on me...'_

Fortunately, time on the dance floor seemed to have gotten Roger to stop being nervous. He was moving more smoothly, in time with the music instead of the way he'd always been slightly off-beat with the faster tune. It was easy to let herself synchronize her movements to his, to feel the warmth of his body behind hers as he moved.

'_Give me a reason to love you... give me a reason to be...a woman...'_ Kaoru automatically sang under her breath along with the lyrics, even though she was finding it harder to concentrate on the words now that the dancing was...was... well, harder to ignore.

Swaying her body to the beat and the bass line, Kaoru slowly raised her arms up to briefly touch the hair at her temples with curved hands before lowering them again in time with the rhythm. As she moved, his hands came out to hold her waist briefly, staying there just long enough to let her feel the strength in his long fingers, the warmth of his palms. Then he moved slightly away from her skin and up over her ribs, ghosting upwards to trace the curve of her breasts. Kaoru was sure that her gasp was audible. He wasn't touching her, but his warmth, the sense of him being so close to her, was making her nerves shoot off sparks along the path his hands were taking. She was having a hard time keeping her thoughts collected, beyond a vague feeling of surprise that Roger had either gotten over his nervousness or was both too nervous to actually touch her and unaware of the havoc his almost-touching was capable of wreaking.

Then one of his his hands touched the side of her neck, tracing a pattern up to her ear and then moving her hair away before leaning in. She felt a puff of warm air before his lips brushed against the nape of her neck, slowly, not quite enough to be a kiss, but tracing patterns she couldn't begin to decipher, making the blood hum dizzily in her veins as he continued, one arm sliding to circle her waist and pull her against him. Forgetting further thought, Kaoru let herself lean back, her eyes falling closed as she ran one hand up his arm, feeling the way his muscles tensed under her touch as she traced lightly up to his shoulder, to where she could feel his hair trailing forward like warm silk as he leaned towards her...

Wait a minute.

Kaoru's eyes flew open, and she yanked, _hard_, on the strands between her fingers as she spun around, gritting her teeth and trying to calm the frantic racing of her heart, or at least blame it on her sudden shift to fury. Amber eyes, pupils slightly dilated, looked down at her from a face framed with long, red hair.

"_You.._." Kaoru spat out, then swallowed and tried again. She went to step away from Kenshin, but realized that he'd kept his arm around her waist as she spun, so that she could only retreat a few inches and give him a glare that by all rights should have incinerated him where he stood.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here, you bastard? And... and what did you do with Roger?"

He quirked one eyebrow at her and showed no sign of letting go. "Roger?"

"The man—the _gentleman_— who very politely asked me to dance, and with whom I was having a perfectly nice time. What. Did. You. Do."

"Nothing! ... Permanent," Kenshin amended, no hint of repentance in his tone or expression.

"I swear, I am going to kick you so hard..."

"Ah, ah, ah, kitten; be careful; you're the one who pointed out that sort of thing only works if it's not announced in advance.

There was something both amused and covetous in his expression, and Kaoru couldn't resist an attempt to stomp on his foot in spite of knowing that he would be able to dodge it. Which he did.

"Let go of me!" she hissed, "What do you think you're _doing_, out on the dance floor, with the...the... dancing and the... the..."

"Nuzzling?" Kenshin supplied helpfully.

Her face was turning red because she was embarrassed and angry, she told herself, not because the fact that he'd said it was making the nerves along the nape of her neck tingle with the memory of how it had felt.

"We are in _public_, you idiot, where there are people, who aren't blind, and if that's your idea of subtlety, you need to have your brain removed!"

He shrugged. "Who on earth said I was trying to be subtle?"

Her hand was swinging towards him, nails curving, before she even realized it. He caught her wrist with a spark of wicked amusement in his eyes, holding her hand so that she was just out of reach of his face.

"Now, now, kitten. No scratching. Well," he corrected, "not in public."

"Let. Go." she hissed, aware that yelling would only draw attention to them. True, Kenshin had somehow managed to guide them both into a darker corner of the club when she was distracted, but making a fuss would alert Sano and Megumi and Misao, and there was no way that she was going to give them any hint whatsoever about Kenshin and his lack of subtlety.

"You know," Kenshin purred, "I don't know what you're complaining about. You were obviously enjoying yourself..." he was moving his thumb in slow circles along her wrist and then up to her palm as he continued, "... the way that you were leaning into me..." he brought her hand upwards, his eyes never leaving hers, amber sparks swirling lazily in their depths.

"The way that your hand was clutching at me..." he gave her a wicked smirk that made her heart kick in her chest as he took her pinky into his mouth, enjoying the taste of her skin, the way that her eyes dilated as he nibbled gently and ran his tongue around her knuckle.

Kaoru couldn't move, could barely remember to breath as Kenshin proceeded to kiss a path along her ring finger before giving it the same treatment. "The way that you were moving with me..." he nibbled a path along the next finger and sucked on it gently, his eyes never leaving her face. "Oh, yes, kitten..." he murmured silkily, " I could feel how you were reacting to me... and I wasn't even touching you..." he kissed his way back around to her palm, down to her wrist and placed his mouth on it, so that she could feel the sharp points of his fangs barely pressing against where her pulse was leaping erratically.

Kenshin was seriously considering dragging Kaoru someplace more private, someplace where he could see how she would react to him if his hands were actually touching her directly, someplace he wouldn't have to worry about interruptions, or distractions, or noise levels. His other arm was holding her around her waist, automatically tightening as he felt her knees go weak.

'_Oh, Kaoru, ´_ he thought, _'you have no idea what you do to me; you're not even trying...and I had no idea what to expect, not really...'_

He really was going to have to make some serious adjustments to his list if things kept going the way that they were.

Before he could find the quickest way through the shadows in the corner of the nightclub, his ears picked up the sounds of familiar steps. Sighing, he pulled back and looked at Kaoru's dazed expression with satisfaction. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before she could recover and react, then moved to stand beside her, at a distance that made it clear that he was with her without making it look like he had, for example, just been nibbling on her wrist in a dark nightclub.

"Kaoru! How was... Kenshin? Hey, man, what are you doing here?" Sano said as he approached them, his arm around Megumi's shoulder.

Kaoru, slowly regaining control over her breathing and her thought processes, wasn't sure whether she was glad to see them or horrified that they were seeing her. With Kenshin. In what was not really a compromising position...well, not anymore, but considering the position that they _had_ been in...

'_Breath. Breath, breath, breath, breath... don't hyperventilate! Slooooooww breaths. Sano is saying something; probably not important...'_ Her thoughts were disorganized, spinning around in her mind, and she was looking for something to grasp onto.

'_He...he... I TOLD him not to do that anymore... but I was dancing with him... but I didn't know it was him... but really, what were the odds that somebody like Roger would suddenly figure out... Roger! Why am I not more worried about what happened to... there was a demon nibbling my fingers... and my wrist... and again with the neck, what is it with him and my neck and why is he so good at it and what does he think he's DOING, and what am I going to do about it...'_

It was that last point that had Kaoru seriously confused. And a confused Kaoru who couldn't see a way to immediately retreat someplace where she could think a situation through thoroughly, with the assistance of coffee and chocolate, tended to rapidly become a cranky Kaoru.

And the more serious and complicated the issue, the crankier Kaoru tended to be.

And, frankly, she couldn't possibly imagine a more serious and complicated issue than a demon who she'd killed once after seeing him massacre a wide selection of jocks and cheerleaders, and who was now back, for reasons that couldn't possibly be good, reasons she was fairly sure she was going to have to kill him for, and showing a disturbing tendency to back her into corners in hallways and kitchens and nightclubs...

And how the _hell_, now that she thought about it, had he known where she was going to be?

Oh, now she was really getting pissed. She gritted her teeth as she finally and fully realized that Kenshin was still standing far too close, in front of her FRIENDS, no less, who were now going to start assuming things.

The fact that Kaoru solidly stepped on Kenshin's foot while adjusting her position and moving away from him made her feel slightly better, but not much.

She was still trying to unobtrusively work her way back into the conversation and hoping that nobody had noticed her absence.

Sano said, "Well, I figured that if we all went to the movie, we could grab food afterwards. Hey, Kaoru; you still up for providing that beer and Chinese food?"

Kaoru blinked. When had she offered to provide...oh. Right. Leave it to Sano to assume an invitation was generally valid until proven otherwise, rather than tied to a specific occasion.

She said calmly, "You know, Sano, that I said that I would _cook_ for you guys. Feel free to take up the invitation."

"Hmm... if I'd known that that was an open invitation, I would have already done so," Kenshin remarked.

Megumi snorted and said, "And if you knew anything about Kaoru's cooking, you would have run screaming in the other direction. Really; come by the clinic sometime; I've got the slides to prove it."

Sano, whose tolerance for any food, as long as it was free, was legend, said "Oh, come on, Meg; Kaoru may be fairly toxic in the kitchen, but I don't think she's ever actually _killed _anybody..."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kenshin remarked absently.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him and said, in a tone sugary enough to cause tooth decay, "Well, I think it's just a question of practice, Megumi. I think that the important thing is to get something done right, because otherwise, it was a waste of time and effort, and you just have to do it again. More thoroughly. Which reminds me, Kenshin, here you've just moved, and I haven't brought you a casserole or anything to welcome you into my apartment complex."

"Don't worry, ki-... Kaoru. I feel _very_... welcomed."

"Oh, you have no idea _how_ glad I am to hear that," Kaoru said, still in that same tone. "Megumi, I think I need another drink. Something large and brightly colored, possibly that blue drink that they have." '_Preferably something that will make a spectacular splash all over a certain idiot's red head...and possibly stain his hair bright blue..' _"Do you want anything?"

Raising one eyebrow at the two who were clearly glaring daggers at each other behind their masks of civility, Megumi said, "Actually, I was just about to get another Gibson and catch up with the bartender; you stay here, Kaoru; I'll be right back."

Before Sano could do more than open his mouth to place his drink order, Megumi had spun on one immaculate heel and was making her way deftly towards the stairs leading up to the bar.

Kaoru said, "It's so nice to have friends you can trust with something like just going and getting you a drink, not to mention trusting them to help you take care of the more important things in life, don't you agree, Kenshin?"

"Absolutely!" Kenshin replied, "I was actually discussing something with a friend of mine here tonight; I'm not quite sure where he's gotten to."

"Well, then you should go and look for him. Soon. I suggest starting in the parking lot in case he's already left."

Kenshin, without turning to look at her, said, "No, no; no need; he can take care of..." Then he blinked. "Or not. Um... Isn't that..."

He trailed off as Misao came barreling towards the group, dragging the man in the trenchcoat, whose expression still remained somewhere between calm and frozen. Kaoru was impressed; most people, after only a small dosage of Misao, had graduated to bemused, happy, or panicked...sometimes all three.

"Everybody, and umm..," Misao stopped mid-sentence, tilting her head curiously as she looked at Kenshin.

"Kenshin," supplied Sano helpfully.

"Everybody, and Kenshin, this is Aoshi. Aoshi, this is Sano, and Kaoru, and Kenshin, and where's Megumi?"

"Getting drinks," Sano said, "Hi, nice to meet you, Aoshi."

Kaoru blinked. Had Kenshin just said... was he implying... "Aoshi, you're a friend of Kenshin's?"

Aoshi, without looking over at the red-headed man, nodded and said, "We've known each other for quite a while. I happened to be in town and thought I would catch up with him."

Kaoru couldn't find anything wrong with that answer—after all, Sano was also a friend of Kenshin's--- but... she wasn't quite sure that she trusted this man, with eyes that somehow reminded her of Kenshin back in high school, and an air of reserve even a determined and slightly tipsy Misao couldn't crack...

"So, what do you do?" she demanded "When you're not visiting... friends?"

"Well, I'm currently in charge of running the family business," Aoshi replied calmly. "It involves a lot of travel."

Misao had finally dragged her eyes away from Aoshi and was looking over at Kenshin and cocking her head, consideringly.

Kaoru suddenly realized that she had been asking Aoshi about himself when she should have been making sure that Misao and Kenshin weren't in the same room with each other. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Because if the look on her face was anything to go by, she was two seconds away from remembering...

"Hey! Weren't you at..." Misao started excitedly, before Kaoru, working to head off disaster, leapt in with, "Sano! That reminds me! Megumi and Misao and I are going shopping next weekend! All day! They're going to re-do my wardrobe! Because, you know, Misao was so... helpful last week.." she finished in a rush, hoping that everybody else would be too startled that Kaoru was showing enthusiasm for clothes-shopping to remember what Misao had been starting to say.

'_Come on, Weasel, take the nice bait... think about the shiny clothes, think about the possibilities of dragging me around in the mall all day, DON'T think back to high school, and popular boys, and your ridiculous suspicions that Kenshin might have been interested.. that I might have been...because I wasn't... and he... I mean, I don't think that... I mean...oh, hell, I really didn't need another complication to be thinking about...''_

Misao blinked at Kaoru's statement, and opened her mouth to say something before closing it again abruptly.

There was a look in her eyes that Kaoru really, really didn't like.

"That's true," she said, "Kaoru promised that she'd go shopping with us... and I know that Kaoru always keeps promises, even if they go back for a long, long time. Years, even."

"That's because we're such good friends, Misao," Kaoru replied, "And good friends understand the importance of things like promises. And timing. For example, _you_ might think it would be a good idea for me to go shopping right away, tomorrow, for, um, boots. But I know that I really don't need any boots, and even if I _did_ need boots, this is really not the right time."

"Oh, Kaoru, you know that nowadays boots are appropriate for any time of year, and you can't keep putting off boot-shopping forever. Especially since you promised I could help out, way back when we were in..."

"I admire your fashion sense, Misao, and you do have great taste in boots, especially recently, but every time you've tried to pick out a pair of boots... or other footware... for anybody else, the results have not been pretty. Disastrous, even. Like the boots you picked out for Tae last Christmas. That was not good."

"How was I supposed to know she already had some that she really liked? Speaking of 'liked," Kaoru, just the other day, I saw that pair of boots you were crazy about all..."

"Oh, that was _ages_ ago," Kaoru said, "And I was never really interested; they don't match anything I have."

Sano looked at each of the two of them in turn and then said, "This is one of those conversations with subtext, isn't it?"

"Don't be silly, Sano," Kaoru snapped, her eyes never leaving her staring contest with Misao.

"We're just talking about fashion," Misao said, "Just because it bores you, Rooster Boy, doesn't mean you should complain. You can always talk about something unrelated."

"I, for example," Kaoru piped up, "am now going to ask where Megumi is with my giant blue drink, and then I may go and look for her, if I feel like it by the time I finish the question. Here goes. Good heavens, where on earth could Megumi be with that giant blue drink I asked her to get? And, indeed, I am going to go look for her. And that drink. 'Bye, guys; I'll be right back!"

And with that, she turned and headed towards the bar, ignoring the prickling on the back of her neck that told her that if she turned around, there would be a pair of amber-sparked eyes watching her appreciatively.

After several minutes had passed, during which Sano and Kenshin had chatted and Aoshi had occasionally contributed a syllable or two, Sano turned to Misao and said, "Bathroom window?"

Misao nodded, "Oh, I expect so. It's what she usually does, but since she can't manage to change her phone number over the weekend, let alone move, I'm not really worried that she's going to escape."

Kenshin looked puzzled for a brief moment, then said, "You mean that Kaoru's gone out the window? In the bathroom? How did she manage that?"

"These windows in the women's bathrooms were designed for easy escapes," Sano said wryly.

"Hey! You say that like it's a bad thing!" Misao complained.

* * *

Kaoru muttered under her breath as she headed back home. This was why she had made a mental vow never to let Misao, and Misao alone, be responsible for transportation home whenever she got dragged out dancing.

Well, maybe not _exactly_ this, with the bad high school memories and the demons and the bad shoe metaphors, but close enough, darn it!

As she stomped down the street, Kaoru was at least glad that her feet didn't hurt after a night of dancing and, well, stomping. She supposed that she could at least be thankful that Misao had good taste in boots. Actual boots, she amended. Like the ones she was wearing. Not... hypothetical, nonexistent boots. Which she didn't need.

'_This darned top, on the other hand... at least I can be glad it's not actually raining. Yet... tut, tut, it looks like rain... that would be the perfect ending to a perfect evening, now wouldn't it... At least the neighborhood isn't dangerous and I don't have to worry about...'_

"You know, kitten, it's a little bit cold for you to be running around like that..." Kenshin drawled from where he was leaning against a streetlamp, the light shining on the highlights in his dark red hair and the black leather of his jacket.

Kaoru managed not to jump or scream or bolt, although she kind of regretted that last one. Bolting would have been good, and she was fairly sure her new boots could put up with the workout.

"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern; now go away. I'm going home, and there's no reason for you to..."

"Forget that I live in the same complex, kitten?"

'_Err... Curses, foiled again.'_ "Oh, but you shouldn't just abandon your friend, who made a special trip just to see..."

"Aoshi can take care of himself," he interrupted smoothly. "And I don't think that your friend... Misao, right? That Misao would appreciate my interruption."

In spite of her general annoyance, Kaoru managed a small prayer of thanks that Kenshin had apparently been too popular in his brief time at their school to notice Misao—or at least that he wasn't remembering her.

"And how, exactly, _do_ you know Aoshi?" she demanded, jumping back to the issue that had been nagging her.

Kenshin pushed himself away from the lamppost and started walking towards her with his usual calm, stalking pace.

"As he said... we're old friends..."

She glared at him and snorted. "And what exactly do you mean by "friends"?"

"The usual sort of thing that people mean. Why do you find that so hard to believe?"

"What do you think?" she shot back, eyes flashing blue fire.

"I think," Kenshin said, "that you look cold, kitten." He took of his jacket with an easy swinging motion as he walked towards her.

Kaoru crossed her arms over her stomach, refusing to acknowledge that he was in any way right, and raised her chin as she replied, "I'm fine. I don't need your jacket. I don't want..."

And then her words were cut off as a pair of arms went around her like iron bands, and her breath caught in her throat as she was assaulted by a smell like something long dead and buried and dug up again to walk the earth...

...and her ears were filled with a cacaphony of insane laughter and a voice crying out, "I see! I see that this girl is your woman, _Battousai_!"

Kaoru struggled, kicking and trying to get leverage to claw, but she was being held several feet off the ground, so tightly she could hardly pull air into her lungs.

"_Jineh!"_ Kenshin snarled, his eyes blazing, his lips curled back so that the light glinted off the sharpness of fangs.

"Get angry!" the madman demanded, "I want to see you get angry, Battousai!"

If she hadn't been pinned and struggling to free herself, Kaoru would have rolled her eyes. What did he think Kenshin was _now_, gleeful and chipper?

But whatever response Kenshin made, or would have made, was lost to her as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and then the world went black.

* * *

Next Chapter: Kenshin sits down with Jineh over a nice cup of tea and some scones and politely explains why kidnapping young women in dark alleys is Not the Done Thing. On an entirely unrelated note, the next chapter or two will probably have a higher rating.

In this chapter I do not own: A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh," Rush's fabulous song "Cold Fire," the amazing and sexy "Glory Box," by Portishead, and a Monty Python reference so obscure I will be shocked if anybody gets it and may feel compelled to give out prizes.

Author's Note: Whee! The long-awaited club scene! And many other things! Trenchcoats! Fedoras! Giant blue drinks! This is a longer chapter between two shorter chapters... or else next week will be a shorter chapter between two longer chapters, take your pick. AND in other news—more fabulous fanart! Dragonsdaughter has really outdone herself with not only the "Kaoru in a towel" picture I mentioned last week, but some AMAZING images of Kenshin and Kaoru from this chapter—first, a picture of Kenshin sneak-dancing with Kaoru at the club (this picture is actually the inspiration for my expanding the description of Kaoru's top... and shrinking the actual top...), and second some great pictures of Kenshin leaning against that streetlamp. She continues to be great and drawing outfits, and the facial expressions in these pictures are wonderful. Absolutely perfect! They're at: http/dragondee(dot)deviantart(dot)com/

Reviewer Responses: Thank you to everybody who has been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate the feedback and so on! It makes me very, very happy to know that folks are reading, and enjoying. I hope that folks were happy with the club scene! And, for everybody who was wondering or who was positive, yes, indeed, it was Kenshin who was watching Kaoru through her window when she was running around in her towel. Hee. In other news, Quick Edit apparently has something against asterisks, because whenever I tried to use them to express something like "grins" or "laughs" it took them out and it ended up looking rather odd. Ah well. And now, some individual responses!

Anne Novemberly: Hmm.. I hadn't thought of it like that. Perhaps the food will become a leitmotiv, like the way Brad Pitt is always eating whenever you see him in "Ocean's Eleven"... That is very funny, that you had to write on "The Goblin Market".. it is certainly a poem with a lot of symbolism and so on. Although you're right that Kenshin is preferable to goblins. In terms of the picture in the bar.. well, the picture is in the VERY typically messy Sano-type display on a corkboard, all the pictures and old receipts and all sorts of things put up, overlapping. Kenshin had to poke around a bit before he found it. Besides which, he usually doesn't go back to the office when he's at the bar; he and Sano are usually having a drink. Kenshin just figured that if Kaoru was the cousin of Sano's girlfriend, there would have to be a picture back there, especially since he'd heard Sano talk about that trip before. Hmm... freak marching band accidents.. tubas of DOOM! There's a thought...

Apathetic Empath2: Glad that you survived the Attack of the Killer Slipper! Umm... happy that you are enjoying this fic to a distracing degree? Sorry that it caused, um, difficulties? "grins" I don't know if finger-nibbling and neck-nuzzling counts as lime, but hope that you enjoyed it.

Cobaltsky: Yes.. Kaoru's plans did not work out the way that she expected. Hope that you weren't disappointed that Kenshin made such short work of the potential competition... Not really the type to sit around and stew and be jealous, is he?

Desanera: Glad that you love the way Kaoru is being written; I like writing her as strong and resourceful and independent, even when faced with confusing situations.

Fairy Tail Fairie: Thank you! Oh, yes, Kenshin was definitely at the club. He might have been a little jealous.. .but he took care of the problem rather quickly.

Fantasy Angel Victoria; Yes.. is occasionally full of wackiness. Glad that the computer is working again! Technical difficulties are not fun. Indeed, Kenshin was very happy to see Kaoru in the living room. Hmm.. Hiko and Saitoh.. now that would be a frightening team. Although possibly not quite as frightening as Misao with a mission and a make-up case...

Iridescent Twilight: "giggles" I hope that this chapter was long enough to make up for the previous chapter and appease readers!

Jbella: Caffeine is good! I am a big fan of caffeine! Hope that the club scene was up to expectations!

Kat Morning: Sano seemed to approve of Roger... although I suspect he approves of Kenshin more. Notice how he didn't ask where blond boy had run off to?

misaoshiru: Thank you! I am always happy to hear that folks who normally avoid Aus are enjoying this one. I'm certainly having fun writing it.

MZ AMbER EYES: Well.. Roger wasn't exactly.. amazing... although I'm sure Kenshin felt jealous.. maybe.. or else went straight to "amused"...

Nekotsuki: Oh, yes, Kenshin-shaped doom indeed... and various other dooms! Bwa ha ha! Thank you so much!

Ookami-Hitomi: Kenshin appreciated Kaoru's clubbing outfit, that's for sure.

Omasu: That is indeed much easier to type! "grins" Naming the Kamiya family cat Schroedinger was inspired by the cat of a friend; a lazy furball who naps so intensely that sometimes it is impossible to tell if he's alive or dead. Check out Dragonsdaughter's picture; as I said, it was the inspiration for a re-write of the top description, and the reason why Misao brought over temporary haircolor. Gives a good idea of what she looked like once Misao was finished with her.

Pia Bartolini: Thank you! Glad that you appreciated the summary!

pruningshears: Do you mean by Misao? Kaoru likes Misao and appreciates her, usually, and doesn't let herself get pushed around unless it doesn't bother her too much (in this chapter, for example, she did not let herself get pushed around). Remember, Kaoru had already decided on a bunch of useful reasons for going to the club, and even for flirting and drinking and dancing.

Sally: Hope that this chapter answered questions! And, thank you; I like writing Kaoru, and am glad that she comes across as three-dimensional.

Shattered Immortality: Look! More Kenshin! And in more than just a watching-from-a-distance kind of way!

Showty Jennie: Hmm... I think that Kaoru was kind of _letting_ Misao boss her into going to the club, since she was planning on taking advantage of the opportunity to find a temporary boyfriend-type person. Not that it worked, but it was a good plan. I hope that the way I right isn't too confusing!

SRoze: Oh! If you haven't ever seen the start of the Kyoto Arc, you definitely should! It's awesome! Some of my favorite episodes. Misao is actually younger than Kaoru... she's just put more effort into. um.. certain aspects of her life than Kaoru has (I don't know why; I'm not doing it that way on purpose)

Strawberry'd: Hmm... Kaoru hasn't really thought about looking out her window to spy.. although she doesn't know that he lives there yet, so she has no reason to.

Triste1: Always glad to make readers laugh! Thank you! Glad that you appreciated the reference to Paulaner.. it seemed like a good beer to have Sano provide. He's traveled the world and would have picked up ideas about what he wanted in the bar. He might be running a dive, but it WILL have good drinks. In terms of finding "The Devil's Cub"... the various permutations of Amazon have it online, I know that. And many bookstores will order things for you if you go and ask at the information desk.


	15. Shortcuts and Shadows

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

CHAPTER-SPECIFIC RATINGS WARNING: THIS CHAPTER, DUE TO LANGUAGE USAGE, SKIRTS THE EDGES OF AN "M" RATING UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM (at least as near as I can figure it out... language-related ratings are a bit tricky, but I figured I should put in a warning).

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Fifteen: Shortcuts and Shadows

* * *

The shortcuts Kenshin was taking were almost recklessly dangerous, taking him through areas that crawled with darkness, places of shadow nobody in their right minds would think of traversing.

He didn't fucking care.

Anything that came near him, anything that tried to stop him, would be exterminated before it had had time to realize it.

The look of utter, absolute, deadly fury on his face as he tore through the shadows was more than enough to keep everything away, hiding and chattering in terror.

'_He will pay for this. I will make sure of that... and if he's hurt her, if he's eventouched her, I will tear him to screaming, bloody pieces, and then see that he gets put back together just so that I can spend the next hundred years doing it again. How dare he, how dare­ that son of a bitch touch what's mine..."_

Kenshin almost hoped that something would be blindly stupid enough to attack him, just to give him a chance to siphon off some of the incandescent rage filling him.

A rage which, he was forced to admit, was partially self-directed.

'_I should have known; I should have taken precautions, no matter how angry it would have made her... He must have been watching her, waiting for a chance...'_ The thought sickened him, the idea that he had been so careless as to allow Jineh to realize that Kaoru was something worth following.

'_That night I thought I sensed him... it wasn't me he was watching, he must have waited until Kaoru went into the building and then he left... it was all that he needed to know..._

_If he's hurt her, there will be no pain, no suffering, too great for him to endure...'_

Stepping out of the shadows and onto the sidewalk in front of the Kamiya household, Kenshin closed his eyes tightly and took several deep breaths, knowing full well that he needed to get his expression under control before he knocked on the door, no matter what his emotions were like.

In spite of his resolution, the pounding on the door was forceful enough to rattle the frame, and when Yahiko opened the door, blinking sleepily, Kenshin was sure the boy was carrying a shinai in his other hand.

"Yahiko, I need to see your sister's room," he said without preamble, walking in without an invitation.

"Um.. Kaoru's.. room... um.. what.. why... Kenshin, do you know what time it is?"

Without turning around as he headed for the stairs, Kenshin said, "Yahiko, I believe that your sister hid... something of mine in the house, about five years ago. And it's _very_ urgent that I get it back."

"Something's happened, hasn't it? Something's happened to Kaoru..." Yahiko blurted out, his eyes going wide.

Kenshin paused on the landing, lowering his head.

"Yes," he admitted, "she... there is someone who... who..." He paused and swallowed. "There's a problem I've been trying to... eliminate, Yahiko, something that's been causing a lot of harm. And now... I underestimated it, and the thing that Kaoru hid..."

'_I need it to kill that bastard, to slice him into pieces, to leave his blood splashed across the floor for the rats to feed on...'_

"Um... Ken...shin?" Yahiko's tone was hesitant, "This... thing... it's a someone? And... they... hurt my sister?"

It was one of the hardest things Kenshin had ever had to force himself to say, but he answered truthfully, "He took her. Not because of... it was directed at me, not at Kaoru..."

'_And I should have seen it coming...'_

"Can... Can you get her back?" Yahiko asked, coming up to stand next to Kenshin on the stairwell.

"Yes." Kenshin said, with no hesitation. No matter what the cost, he would get Kaoru back; he had already sworn that to himself, and to her.

Yahiko looked at his expression and then nodded once, sharply. "Ok. Kaoru's old room is down the hall..."

As he opened the door, Kenshin could smell the traces of jasmine in the room, and they made something in his heart clench. He closed his eyes and tried to look for his sword, but found nothing.

'_Well, it was worth a try, to see if I could find it when I'm in the same room... assuming that she hid it in her room in the first place instead of dumping it in a river... No; she would have wanted to keep an eye on it, she would have wanted to know exactly where it was at all times, I know her. And she wouldn't have wanted to risk anybody else, in case it was dangerous... so it has to be here...'_

Yahiko was watching him curiously as Kenshin started to pace the room, eyes darting back and forth, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Um... Kenshin? If you tell me what it is you're looking for, maybe I can help?" the boy offered.

Kenshin sighed. How could he explain that he was looking for a sheathed sword, probably wrapped up and hidden in something else? And clearly protected enough that even _he_ couldn't find it, and he was attuned to the thing!

"I'm not sure what she's put it in," he admitted, "But... can you remember her bringing anything... unusual home, did anything odd happen, in the Spring of her senior year of high school?"

Yahiko's expression turned thoughtful. "There was one thing... it was right after Kaoru fainted... we came home from lessons late, and she'd left dinner cooking, but wasn't in the room... then she came downstairs, and had this look on her face... and she didn't really eat anything, and then when she got up from the table she fainted... then the next day she stayed home from school and asked if Grandpa could stay with her.. that was weird, because, well, Grandpa is a little crazy, and if you're sick, he keeps going on about evil spirits and stuff and trying to burn incense in the room..."

Kenshin nodded. That made sense. If their grandfather was a sorcerer, or a priest, then of course Kaoru would call him. And Kaoru had stayed in her room that day, which confirmed his earlier beliefs.

Had she given the sword to her grandfather, to take away and hide? He paused. If that was the case, Kenshin was in the wrong room, in the wrong building, maybe in the wrong town, and that meant that...

'_NO! I will not become distracted by useless... Kaoru would not have exposed other members of her family to the danger that something nasty would come after that sword... she would not have risked her grandfather's life by burdening him with something like that. It has to be here.'_

But anything mystical, like a sealing spell, should be something he could pick up on. And there was nothing he could detect, nothing at all, no signs of shielding or magic or...

Kenshin paused in his thoughts.

There was nothing he could detect.

Maybe he was looking for the wrong thing.

He had been assuming, all these years, that Kaoru would have tried to shield the sword so that nobody could get to it. What if her grandfather had done something else altogether?

He didn't pray very often, but he muttered a short prayer under his breath as he looked more closely at the currents, the energies in the room.

There... like a rock in a streambed, an interruption that the water flowed around and over without a disturbance in the surface...

Under the bed.

Kenshin lifted the end of the bed and moved it easily, to Yahiko's shock. There were several plastic containers, containing various odds and ends and out-grown clothing, and, he suspected, a few Misao-purchases Kaoru was trying to hide from her friends. He moved the boxes out of the way and looked at the floorboards.

Even though part of him wanted to punch the floor, he took the time to find the loose board and pull it up.

The space underneath the board was papered and painted with symbols that sparked peevishly as they were disturbed. And there, in the middle, wrapped in enough charms to make it look like nothing more than a bundle of ragged paper, stained by the years, was his sword, the very top of the hilt poking forlornly out of the mess.

Kenshin picked it up as quickly as thought, ignoring the static-shocks of the charms pasted on it. If the situation hadn't been so deadly serious, he would have laughed. This set of half-rate charms had been enough to confuse him for all these years?

He supposed this should serve as a lesson; he'd been expecting something grandiose, something powerful that would repel any attempts to get the sword, like a safe that needed to be broken into by force or stealth... and instead... instead, Kaoru's grandfather had done the equivalent of hiding it under a blanket in the corner of the room and "encouraging" people not to look there, making it invisible unless you knew that it was there and looked for something hidden.

Yahiko swallowed and said, "Um... Kenshin? Is that... that's a sword... what kind of trouble... why do you need..." he trailed off.

Kenshin had finished removing the annoying paper charms from the sword, not even wincing at the slight jolts every time he touched one. He stuck the sword through his belt and pulled his coat over it.

"Thank you, Yahiko. I promise that I'll bring Kaoru back safely." Finding his sword again had calmed him slightly... well, in the sense that he was now convinced with an iron certainty that there was nothing on Earth or in any part of Hell that could save Jineh from his fate.

"I'm coming with you!" Yahiko exclaimed, lifting his shinai, "She's my sister, and she's the Assistant Master of our school; if she's in trouble, I have a responsibility..."

"_No_!" Kenshin said sharply, then continued more gently, "Yahiko, this is a dangerous situation; if anything happened to you, if Kaoru knew that I'd brought you into danger... she'd never forgive me; you know that. And I'd never forgive myself either... Please, I know that you want to help, but there really isn't anything that you can do this time, Yahiko."

After staring into the redhead's eyes for several long moments, Yahiko lowered his eyes and nodded.

"Ok... but, Kenshin?"

"Yes?" Kenshin said as he was leaving the room.

"If anything happens to her, I'm going to come after you. Seriously. I mean it."

A half-smile quirked Kenshin's mouth. _'Easy to tell that they're related,'_ he thought.

"Yes, Yahiko. I'm sure that you would."

And with that, Kenshin was out the door, down the stairs, and back into the shadows, letting fury consume him again, drawing his own sword for the first time in years, which sparked the same burning amber as his eyes as he brandished the blade and snarled into the darkness.

'_Jineh... you are doomed and damned to the depths of Hell, and this time, when I'm done with you, not even you will be able to crawl back out again...'

* * *

_

Next chapter: Tea and cookies. Or possibly sharp, pointy things and occasional disturbing squish-type noises.

Author's Notes: Well, that was unexpected, huh? As I said, a short chapter sandwiched between two longer chapters. I tried to think of ways to make it longer, but this is really just a short incident that needed to stand alone. Plus, did I mention my schedule? Gah...

In this chapter I: don't actually quote anything. How about that.

Reviewer Responses: Whee! Over five hundred reviews! I'm shocked! And thrilled! And various other things ending in exclamation points! Thanks to folks who are amused by my disclaimer. It was fun coming up with it. And, I am of course tremendously happy that people like the story, and the characterizations. The club chapter was a lot of fun to write, and so was this one. I like doing Kenshin's POV, and this gave me a chance to focus on him some more. Kenshin and Yahiko really haven't had a chance to interact, so I thought it would be nice to give them some time. Of course, Kaoru would doubtless object if she knew her little brother was hanging out with a demon prone to using that sword in massacres...

And now, some really quick individual responses before I must eat dinner. Apologies to everybody who I don't get to; I really appreciate your reviews and comments even when I can't say so personally to everybody. I am so thrilled that people are waiting excitedly for new chapters; helps keep me punctual in terms of updates.

Anne Novemberly: Misao is indeed a danger worse than any number of cheesesticks. Glad that you like seeing Koshijiro Kamiya around... I did indeed need someplace to put Yahiko and wanted to have the dojo as a separate location. I think that their grandfather is still around, but haven't brought him in yet. And, you are correct, the cat is somewhat Buyo-borrowed. And inspired by friends' cats as well.

Brigitte: Yes... yes, it was evil. Bwa ha ha!

bunny angel: Well.. I've posted chapters in order; I don't think anything is missing. Kaoru got stalked for a couple of chapters before she got kidnapped (mall and outside apartment), so she's been kind of "involved" without realizing it.

Cobaltsky: Kaoru has probably used that bathroom window before, when necessary. More Kenshin this chapter, and action to follow!

Devin: Thank you! I'm glad that you like Kaoru's personality, wacky inner thoughts and all.

fantasy angel victoria: Yes, I am occasionally evil. Roger was, alas, a wrong-place-wrong-time type of guy... As for Aoshi... well, let's just say that that meeting was what Kenshin was talking about on the phone after the Cheesestick Incident.

girl from ipanema: Look, a sword!

Grimnoire: Thank you! Kaoru was probably wishing that she had antique hairpins (preferably well-sharpened) when she was on that dance floor, but unfortunately, she had none.

Indygodusk: Thank you! Well, Aoshi and Kenshin had a meeting, which got arranged through one of Kenshin's phone conversations... although I suspect that it wasn't originally supposed to be at the nightclub and Kenshin changed the location once he got a glimpse of Kaoru in her outfit... And, Aoshi letting his inner pole dancer out was possibly the scariest concept my brain encountered all day. Eek.

Iridescent Twilight: You are absolutely right—and those were indeed two things Kenshin was planning out before they got interrupted.

LaurieUT: Yup! But.. not from "Flying Circus," per se... As I said, it's really quite obscure (hee).

Kalasin: Hmm... no plans for a Spike cameo, although I may give Kenshin a black leather trenchcoat just for the heck of it... Kenshin probably doesn't have his List posted on his fridge door... although it would be amusing if he did.

MZ AMbER EYES: Ah.. alas, poor Roger.. or possibly not. Hmm, wherever could he have gotten to? I hope that things don't get boring— although not that much time has passed in the actual story, so it's not like Kenshin was.. um.. THAT patient.

Nekotsuki: Thank you! Definitely one of my favorite chapters to write as well.

Ookami-Hitomi: Just out of curiosity, how were you picturing the club scene? Glad that is was both surprising and enjoyable, at any rate!

Pinay Tiger: Hope that your e-mail is working better, and that other things went well.

Quirk: Oh, she affects him way more than she realizes, and much more than he was expecting...

Sally: Always glad to have people say nice things about my grammar/spelling.. it's a pet peeve of mine when people don't pay attention to that in their writing, because it distracts from the story itself. Don't know if I would ever right a tutorial.. or where on earth I would put it... hmm.. unless it was a tutorial disguised as a fanfic.. (hee).

Scented Candles: Thank you! I am so happy that such a good author is enjoying the humor and characters!

Strawberry'd: Roger? Hmm... No idea... la, la, la... Yes, that was indeed Jineh Kenshin sensed when Kaoru attacked him with cheesesticks. And it was Jineh lurking in the mall as well.

Teardrop: Misao has excellent Aoshi-sensing abilities, indeed. I think it's genetic. Some form of Advanced Weasel Radar...


	16. Poor Little Falcon

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

CHAPTER-SPECIFIC RATINGS WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M" FOR VIOLENCE (you're surprised?) , UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM (this translates to "R")

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Sixteen: Poor Little Falcon

* * *

Kaoru swam slowly back to awareness, wincing, her nose filled with the scent of old blood, and her head filled with an iron determination to never, ever, _ever_ let Misao drag her out to a nightclub again.

And this time, she meant it.

'_Floor...'_ she thought, trying to piece together her surroundings... _'Cold cement... patches of moonlight... pieces of glass... breeze coming in through broken window_s...' When she tried to sit up, she realized that her wrists had been bound together in front of her with a rough rope, and it took her several minutes to wriggle her way into a sitting position so that she could ascertain more about wherever the hell she had been dragged by... by...

Who exactly had kidnapped her, anyway?

'_I went out the window, and then I was heading home... Kenshin showed up; of course Kenshin showed up, he has the most annoying habits... and then...'_ The memory of an iron-tight grip, and maniacal laughter,t o filled her head, a man who had grabbed her and held her with no more trouble than if she'd weighed nothing at all, a man who had said...

"_I see! I see that this girl is your woman, Battousai!"_

'_His WHAT?'_ Kaoru thought, in utter shock. _'That... that... maniac thought... thinks...he took me because he thinks that I'm...Oh, I'm going to absolutely KILL him...'_

And even she couldn't say with utter certainty which of the two men—two demons, she corrected—she was referring to. Possibly both of them.

Swallowing and trying not to gag on the stench in the room, Kaoru looked around. She had been tossed roughly onto the concrete floor, and she could tell that she was going to have a bruise on one elbow in the morning. The building appeared to be industrial, and long abandoned, the wind whistling mournfully through the holes in the roof, bricks and bits of glass littering the floor.

There were... other things in the far corner, things that she was fairly sure were the cause of the smell, but she really didn't think it was a good idea to look at them too closely.

'_So, Kaoru, how was your day today?'_ she asked herself, _'Well, gee, it started out fairly normally, but then one of my crazy friends made me wear an outfit that is probably illegal in at least three states, and put stripes in my hair when I wasn't paying attention, even though she promised that she would never do that again. Then I went to a nightclub, which was very loud, and I was dancing with a perfectly nice boy, and then suddenly I wasn't, because there was a demon who has NO concept of the definition of personal space, and who continues to be entirely too fond of my neck, and then Misao remembered Kenshin from high school and I tried to head her off by agreeing to shop, and it wasn't really working, so I left, and a demon offered me his coat, but before I could come up with a cutting reply, another demon grabbed me and knocked me out, and now I'm tied up in an abandoned factory somewhere...'_

'_All in all, not my best day...'_

Gritting her teeth, Kaoru tried to get enough leverage to stand up. With her hands in front of her, it was much more difficult, and she decided that she was going to have to make her way over to the wall if she wanted to have any luck with it at all.

Not for the first time, she regretted that Misao picked nightclub outfits as if there was a global fabric shortage.

'_Ok...ok...I think I can avoid the broken glass... damn, the pieces don't seem to be big enough to try to cut the ropes... but maybe there's a piece in one of the window frames that I can use once I'm on my feet again... darn it, why does scootching across the floor on my butt have to be the only way I can get over to the wall...'_

Before she had gotten more than a few feet, there was the noise of rusty hinges as a door she hadn't noticed creaked open.

Kaoru froze.

The man who came through the door was wearing a long duster, the color of dirt and shadows, and a hat that shone like a beetle's shell in the moonlight through the broken window.

'_So that's why I kept seeing fedoras,'_ she thought distractedly, _'although that's not really technically a fedora, I suppose... too shiny, and the lines aren't quite... what is this, comparative haberdashery? Focus! Now you know that this... this maniac has been following you around for at least a couple of days... That's... that's not good... How much does he know about me? About my friends?"_

He walked over to where she sat, and as he lifted his head to look at her, Kaoru repressed a shudder. Crazed eyes, eyes that no longer held even the memory of sanity, and a rictus grin that stretched across his face like something shattered and broken...

"Poor little falcon, had her wings clipped," the man—_'Jineh,'_ she thought, remembering Kenshin's furious, snarled scream, said, in a harsh crooning voice that sent a shudder down her spine.

Jineh bent down and hauled her up by the cords holding her wrists. The rope bit into her skin, but she clenched her teeth and didn't make a sound, contenting herself with glaring up at him with contemptuous fury.

"Battousai's woman," Jineh murmured, "I never thought that one would find a woman worth taking... I wonder exactly what it is that he sees in you, hmmm?"

This close, she could see more details than she wanted to of the dark, rusty stains splashed across his coat, the jagged, yellowing edges of his teeth.

'_Not to mention the fact that he really doesn't smell very good...,'_ she thought, wincing.

She was proud of the fact that she wasn't shaking. Or kicking, since she didn't want him to decide to tie her ankles.

He leaned slightly closer, and Kaoru stiffened.

'_If this one goes for my neck too, I think I'm going to be sick...all over him, which would serve him right, the bastard...'_

Fortunately, Jineh didn't get near her skin, or her hair, and his hands never strayed from their nervous, twisting grip on the rope.

"He'll come here, you know... looking for you... oh, yes, he will; I should thank you, you know; I've been looking for a way to make him angry for such a very long time... it isn't any fun if he's not angry..."

'_Oooookay... just keep quiet and don't bother the crazy babbling lunatic who's got you tied up in an abandoned warehouse...'_

"Poor little falcon," he said again, leaning so that his breath ghosted across her ear, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper, "Don't worry; a girl like you is special, someone who can attract the attention of someone like him, all sharpness and skill with his blade... that's someone worth taking time with; no anonymous slashes in the dark, no banal endings in alleyways that nobody will think about once the blood has dried... that's no end for the woman who attracted the devotion of a legend like him... You deserve to be remembered. I'll make _sure_ that you're remembered, oh, yes... it's alright; you don't have to worry..."

'_That is quite possibly the least reassuring thing I have ever heard,'_ Kaoru thought over the pounding of her blood in her ears, _'But... but it sounds like it's just me, not anybody else. Well... Kenshin... but... not my friends. Not my family. _

_I think... I think I can bear... whatever's going to happen as long as it's just going to happen to me...'_

Jineh dropped her back down onto the floor without warning or ceremony, and she caught a glimpse of the sword under his coat as she went down.

He started pacing, his eyes roaming restlessly around the room, and she wasn't even sure he was talking to her anymore as he continued, "Battousai... he's been hunting me for such a long time... spoiling all my fun... But now he has to come to me, to follow where I'm leading him, he thinks he's hunting, but he's going to be prey to my sword..."

If it wasn't for the bone-deep certainty that attracting Jineh's attention was an _extremely_ unwise idea, Kaoru would have taken the opportunity to ask exactly what Jineh meant by hunting, what Kenshin's reasons were for coming after him.

She really didn't feel any need to ask about what "fun" Battousai had spoiled.

Jineh turned abruptly and looked at her and she froze.

"I need to be ready," he said abruptly, "I need to be ready for when Battousai arrives, ready to enjoy his anger... I can't take the time that you deserve right now, and it isn't any fun if we don't play right... "

Muttering under his breath, his eyes darting back and forth, he left the room, and Kaoru wasn't even sure he really remembered that she was there. She heard the slow click of the lock after the door closed, and let herself relax slightly, exhaling.

She wasn't dead yet, or even damaged. And it sounded like she wouldn't be for a while... although it was also clear that he had some plans for her future that were going to be highly, highly unpleasant.

Kaoru closed her eyes and attempted to collect her thoughts. _'He didn't take me for me; he took me because of Battousai, because of Kenshin. He took me to lure him here._

_I HATE being bait...'_

Alright. Now that the crazy psychopath with the sharp weapon was off lurking in some other part of the building, it was time to go back to Plan A, namely, Get These Ropes Off.

Good thing that Jineh seemed to have forgotten that female falcons were roughly three times the size of male ones, and with tempers to match.

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru put her hands on the floor between her legs. Rolling forward, she managed to bend her leg so that she was up on one knee, then use that leverage to get her other leg in position as well so that she could push herself up.

She swayed slightly, but managed not to fall. Which was good, because then she would have had to engage in another undignified scramble, and she really couldn't waste the time.

One of the windows had a section where the wood was splintered around several large, jagged chunks of glass. She put the rope up against them, and started trying to saw it, back and forth, her world narrowing to concentrate on the rope, and the glass, ignoring the way her wrists and forearms were getting scratched by the rough wood.

''_She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood'... why can't my brain come up with something useful in this situation, like the Boy Scout Handbook section on knots, or the Worst Case Scenario Handbook on escaping from a deranged kidnapper?'_

Finally, the rope fell to the floor. Kaoru resolutely ignored the bloodstains on it, and the pain in her arms. Free of the ropes wasn't out of the room, and she really didn't know how much time she was going to have.

'_I need to get out of here before... before Kenshin shows up. Not that I'm accepting the words of Senor Psychopath that Kenshin is going to show up... '_ she thought, remembering Kenshin's expression when Jineh had grabbed her, the way that he had _snarled_ the other man's name. '_but... it seemed pretty clear that Kenshin was going to come after him... and I'm not such an egoist as to think it's because of poor little damsel-in-distress me, either... that's one thing I think I DON'T believe that lunatic about..."_

Right now, she couldn't spare the time and energy to investigate whether she didn't believe Jineh's rantings about Kenshin's feelings, or if she didn't _want _to believe them.

'_Focus on getting out of here, and running away from the demon... why does this scenario sound familiar... Except that this time someone knows I'm here and is coming to save me... except... Well, now we get to the heart of the issue, don't we... Jineh expects Kenshin to come charging in here, sword blazing, and Kenshin doesn't have his sword... because I took it and got Grandpa to hide it so that nobody could see it even if they were looking straight at it... and then I put it under the floorboards to make sure nobody would be looking at it in the first place...'_

When Kaoru had insisted that her grandfather come to visit her the morning after The Incident, as she had called it at the time, he had been surprised when she had sat there, still and serious and pale, and poured out her story to him, showing him the sword, with the strange decorations on the hilt and blade that shimmered under the surface of the metal, the sheath that spoke of long usage. She had asked him to shield it, to ward it, to do _something_, and he, regretfully, had informed her that he didn't have the power to lock up such a powerful weapon. In fact, he had told her in no uncertain terms to tie several large bricks to it and throw it into a river; he couldn't ward it, and without wards, it was sure to attract very nasty visitors.

So Kaoru had bit her lip and thought hard for several minutes before suggesting an alternate plan. After a moment of surprise, her grandfather had also considered it carefully before declaring excitedly that they could hide the sword so that nobody, human or demon, would see it; their search would just slide off of it, without giving any indication that it was there.

And she had been so proud of that plan, especially since Kenshin had made his presence known again. At the moment, however...

'_Oh, gods: I strongly suspect that Kenshin can't fight Jineh without his sword... that this isn't a case of just being able to borrow an Uzi from... um... wherever you'd go to borrow automatic weapons at this time of night... Which means he's going to be showing up here without it...and Jineh has a sword of his very, very own... and I'm sure he's not afraid to use it...'_

Kaoru suddenly realized that she really didn't want to see Kenshin sliced to pieces by a raving lunatic. Not just because it would mean that, well, the raving lunatic would have more time for her, but because she didn't think Kenshin deserved it.

'_If anybody's going to get to kill him, it's going to be me!'_ she thought fiercely, _'Not some deranged slasher who... ok, last time I killed him, I was kind of in deranged slasher mode myself, but... but... that's different! Jineh is permanently set to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate, and... frankly, if Kenshin could eliminate him... I don't think that would be a bad thing._

_Which, Kaoru Kamiya, leads us to what conclusion, exactly? Fact: Jineh is an evil, deranged psycho nutcase with bad teeth. Fact: If Kenshin comes charging in here like an idiot, without his sword, which he doesn't have because you hid it, then he's going to get turned into sushi. Fact: Jineh thinks that you're a helpless little hostage... now that's deja vu all over again... Fact: I really don't like where all these facts are leading me...'_

Kaoru sighed. Looked like she needed to find a weapon. Again. Luckily for her, she was in an abandoned factory full of nasty sharp objects, many of them broken and rusty in what looked like potentially very damaging ways.

'_I wonder if demons can get tetanus...'_ she thought as she started trying to take stock of her surroundings. _'Speaking of which, thank various gods I'm not wearing sandals...'_

Keeping a careful ear open for noise from the other side of the door—the door itself was a problem she'd deal with once she had some kind of plan for whatever she found on the other side--- Kaoru made a slow, careful circuit of the room. Including the more unpleasant parts in the corners, where white glimmers she was sure were bones were visible through tattered fabric.

'_If it's not sharp and pointy, it's no use to me at the moment,'_ she thought, firmly.

By the end of her round, she had discovered something that might once have been a bucket, and had filled it about halfway with nails and some unidentifiable bits and pieces of metal. Reaching down, she slipped off one of her boots and pulled off one of her socks. She was glad now that she had insisted on wearing them with her new boots, in spite of Misao's grumbles about fashion.

She filled the sock about halfway with the contents of the basket and tied a half-knot to keep everything in.

The glass shards weren't big enough for her to handle without gloves, so she left them alone.

Now to tackle the door...

'_Ok... Occam's Razor: simplest solution first...'_ Kaoru thought, starting her attempts to escape by simply trying the door to see if it opened. It didn't, of course, but at least she had tried. It would have been highly embarrassing to spend time trying to pick the lock and then have the door turn out to have been open in the first place.

She hoped that there wasn't a padlock on the other side of the door, because she had no idea how to handle that particular situation. Looking in her basket, she tried to find something that she could use as a lockpick.

'_Why couldn't Misao have decided that I looked great in cargo pants, or anything with pockets where I could have kept my Swiss Army knife... or Kleenex, or anything at all, really... stupid form-fitting tight pants...'_

There was half a broken hanger, or what she thought probably used to be a hanger, and Kaoru managed to maneuver it into the lock before she put her ear to the door and manipulated the stiff wire.

'_Never thought I'd be so grateful to Sano for the more disreputable parts of his past... '_

With a groaning squeal, the lock ground open, and Kaoru allowed herself a small moment of triumph.

Now for the hard part.

'_I can't believe that my grand plan is to attack a crazed demon with a sock. Ok, granted, a sock full of very sharp and rusty junk, but still...'_

Peering carefully into the hallway, Kaoru could see no sign of Jineh. She couldn't hear anything either, and really had no idea which direction to go.

'_Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, catch a deranged violent demonic maniac... well, left it is, then...'_

She moved as quietly as she could on the rough, debris-filled floor, all of her senses on alert.

It didn't help.

There was a sudden movement out of shadows that she was _sure_ had been empty before, and one wrist was suddenly upwards with bruising force, so that she was almost dangling in the air, her feet struggling to maintain contact with the ground, her shoulder crying out in protest as the basket fell to the ground with a dull jangling noise.

Jineh stood there, looking at her with an expression of calm disappointment. He shook his head at her sadly and said, "I don't think that you understand the rules. You're not supposed to be wandering around and getting in the way, you know. Bothering people. I think I need to put you someplace where you won't cause any more trouble, until after Battousai and I have gotten a chance to play."

As he started dragging her back down the hallway, he continued, "Now you're making me change my schedule; I was going to save all your screams for later, when there wasn't any rush. Oh well..."

Kaoru fought to give her feet some kind of traction, something like leverage, using what she knew from her kendo lessons. She twisted her hand so that she could momentarily grab Jineh's wrist, something in her shrinking from the _wrong_ feeling of touching him, and brought the tied-off sock up in a sweeping arc, to connect solidly with his face. The fabric tore on impact, jagged bits and pieces connecting with a force she could feel up the length of her arm.

He screamed, a horrible, high sound, and dropped her wrist abruptly as he brought both hands up to where she had struck him.

The minute he let go, Kaoru took off down the corridor, not wanting to see what she had just done, not wanting to give him a chance to recover. She didn't want to look at the remnants of the sock in her hand, didn't want to see what was currently staining it, was fighting off nausea even as she ran, but she clenched her hand tightly.

The fact that she had just lost her only weapon was not something she wanted to think about, but the sock was losing bits and pieces of metal even as she ran, and she could tell that it wouldn't be much good for a second strike. With a grimace, she forced her fingers to loosen and let it drop to the ground. No point in leaving a trail if she could help it.

'_Ok, I have now lost the element of surprise... well, I mean, I used what I had of it effectively...'_ she thought, trying valiantly to block the memory of the unpleasant _squishing _sounds when she had made contact with his face.

She wondered how much time she had before he recovered enough to come after her.

She wondered where the hell the door to this place was, and what she would do once she'd found it. Her mind was focusing on a series of decidedly morbid last-stand-type thoughts, complete with theme music, and she wasn't sure it didn't have a point.

Because even if she could run away and find her way out of the building, and out of whatever hellish blotch of industrial blight the factory was undoubtedly located in, and back to her own neighborhood, there would still be the fact that Kenshin was going to come here looking for her, hopefully with more than a sock in his arsenal, but still without the one thing she was sure he would need to get rid of Jineh. She _really_ hadn't liked the look of that sword under his coat.

'_Damn it, damn it, damn it...'_ she thought furiously, racing down the corridor.

There was a door to her left, and she barreled through it at top speed, throwing her weight against it and stumbling slightly as it opened. She found herself in a large room, clearly part of what had once been the main factory production area The husks of old machines were scattered across the floor, connected by the remaining sections of the assembly line conveyer belts.

Letting her breathing slow, Kaoru looked around. Heavy industrial equipment. This was something she could potentially work with...

'_I wonder if I should start hitting buttons to see if anything still works... no, no, no; think, Kaoru, do you really want to hang up a sign saying, "Here I am, come find me"? And I don't imagine that I'm going to have the time to build some kind of fabulous MacGyver, A-Team, 'I love it when a plan comes together' kind of gadgetry. Simpler is definitely better... Simpler and preferably sharp.'_

She found a length of pipe and picked it up as she started her search of the room, avoiding the glass from the broken skylights and using the pale moonlight to navigate.

'_Move it, move it... wonder what these machines used to make, would it hel...'_

"Stupid, interfering _bitch!"_ came a distorted shriek from behind her, and Kaoru barely had time to duck out of the way, almost losing her grip on the pipe as a hand slashed down to grab her.

She turned, brandishing the pipe, and almost threw up at the sight of Jineh's face, or what was left of it. There were bits of metal embedded in his cheek, wounds weeping something slimy and black, his lip so damaged she could see the jagged edges of teeth, his nose was slashed and cut and bent... and his left eye was a ruin, what was left of it slowly oozing down the wreck of his face.

Kaoru backed away as he hissed insanely, words tumbling out in a rush that she couldn't understand and didn't want to, his intentions clear in the way his fingers were hooked into claws, the mad light in his remaining eye.

The pipe was a little longer and heavier than a bokken, but she shifted to one of the positions of Kamiya Kasshin, holding it in front of her, senses tuned to the fight, waiting.

Jineh was breathing hard, but she wasn't dumb enough to think that it meant he wasn't much stronger and still faster than she was.

She remembered a story she'd read once, where a woman had defeated an attacking cyclops by taking advantage of his lack of depth perception; she thought hard about whether she could do anything similar as she stood there.

When he moved, it was a blur, and she barely had time to bring up the pipe in an attempt to block.

And just like that, the top half of the pipe was gone, spinning across the dirty floor, the cut edge of the remaining piece glinting in the light.

"I'm going to cut you into little pieces and leave them for him to find, like bread crumbs," Jineh spat, blood and spit spraying from his mouth, "I'm going to gouge those pretty eyes out and watch the way they reflect the moonlight then, bitch, and.."

Kaoru's strike would have caught him across the ribs, but he blocked her, teeth grinding together in a grimace.

'_Damn... hoped that the monologuing would distract him enough to...'_

Then thought stopped as she saw him move from blocking to attacking, the curve of his blade glittering in the light, and she knew it was the blow that would kill her, that there was no way she could block it even as she brought the pipe up to try, and part of her was at least relieved that she would be dead quickly, that no matter what happened to her body afterwards, at least she wouldn't be able to feel it.

Kaoru refused to close her eyes as he swung, determined to face death with dignity and defiance...

And then there was a snarl and a yell of "_JINEH,_" a blur of red and a flash of silver, and amber sparks striking as two blades met...

Kenshin was standing in front of her, his hair wild and his eyes blazing with the fury of Hell, fangs bared as he held off Jineh's attack with... his sword?

Kaoru blinked. Kenshin had... how had he... when did he find...

'_Well I guess he doesn't need to keep backing me into convenient corners now_," she thought, feeling slightly unsteady as her body caught up to the fact that it wasn't actually going to die just yet.

Jineh laughed, a deranged giggle that Kaoru was sure was going to lurk in the corners of her memory. She looked over the determined set of Kenshin's shoulders, eyes wide, to where the two blades met, to see Jineh standing there, an unholy expression of ecstasy lighting his face, including a left eye that seemed to be slowly knitting itself back together, along with the wounds on his cheek and nose.

'_Eww... and... .eww...'_

"I knew you'd come, Battousai!" he said, and Kaoru once again had the feeling that he had forgotten her existence, had forgotten that there was anything in the world but his opponent, "Now it's time for the fun to really begin!"

Kenshin voice was darkness and the edge of a blade. "Before I allow you to die, Jineh, you _will_ regret ever touching her."

And before the other man could respond, he was in motion, sword swinging so quickly Kaoru couldn't even follow its path, could only register the sparks when the two blades met once again.

Jineh's manic grin was extremely disturbing, and his voice sounded almost rapturous as he said, "At last! I don't think anything in the world could be more fun than this..."

Not bothering to dignify that comment with a response other than a tightening of his jaw and a deadly glare, Kenshin continued his attack. He leapt in and then back, and Kaoru could see the thin line of red blossoming across Jineh's abdomen.

"Ah, ah, ah, Battousai," Jineh said, mockingly, "you know that your orders were to take me alive..."

Between one blink and the next, Kenshin was behind him, his blade scraping delicately across Jineh's throat to leave another line of red.

"_Alive_, Jineh? You were dead the minute you started following her. Do you honestly think I in any way _care_ what my orders might have been? The only thing facing you is death, however I chose." His tone was colder than anything Kaoru could remember, and she took an instinctive step backwards, the noise of her heel hitting the concrete echoing into the silence between the two fighters.

Jineh's eyes flicked over to her and he laughed again, "Oh, Battousai; your poor little falcon must indeed be something precious to make you so defiant."

Kenshin smirked as he attacked again, slashing almost casually a millimeter in front of Jineh's face. "Seems to me like you've already had your own encounter with her and learned that, Jineh. I only regret I couldn't have been there to watch."

Kaoru was starting to get a twitchy feeling crawling up her spine, her earlier conviction that it would be a very bad thing indeed to attract the grinning psychopath's attention returning full force.

She also wasn't comfortable with Kenshin's wishing he had been there to see what she had done to Jineh with her improvised weapon. She wasn't even comfortable with the fact that _she_ had been there.

Blades flashed and rang as Kenshin's next attack was blocked—barely. Then Jineh attacked, his mouth still twisted into that joyous, rictus smile.

He made a move that was slightly off, and, as Kaoru tried to identify what it was that was making her instincts scream at her, Jineh was spinning out of the way a hair too slowly, and Battousai stabbed through his abdomen as quick as thought with a motion that twisted slightly at the end as he withdrew his sword.

'_He's trying to disembowel him...'_ Kaoru thought, _'But... that shouldn't have worked so well, Jineh isn't slow or stupid unless he was... oh, CRAP...'_

The spin and twist had put Jineh between her and Kenshin, and all she had was half a length of pipe and a half second to leap backwards out of the way as Jineh grabbed, missing her arm but catching the pipe before she had a chance to drop it, and swinging so that she hit one of the machines and fell to her knees, blinking in shock at the red eyes that seemed to fill her field of vision...

The enraged sound that tore from Kenshin's throat echoed into the sudden stillness.

"Oh, indeed. And I promised her that I would be sure to give her the respect she deserves, Battousai. Of course, I meant for that to be a celebration after I'd taken care of you... but this will do..."

Kaoru wasn't sure what happened, couldn't seem to connect her thoughts together, but all at once everything was needles of ice in her veins, and a sharp pressure in her lungs, like being underwater too long, and she watched in astonishment as the quick, shallow pants that suddenly seemed to be all she could manage produced clouds of vapor in front of her, as if she was outside in the winter.

'_Huh...'_ she thought, _'What a strange thing...'_ The expression on Kenshin's face, in his eyes, was strange too, but she couldn't take the time to analyze it, not when every breath seemed to be shallower and colder and she couldn't feel her fingers or feet anymore.

Jineh leapt at Kenshin, who was still staring across the floor at where Kaoru slumped like a broken doll, her eyes glazed and crystals of ice forming at the corners. It was pure instinct that brought his sword up in time to block.

The ring of steel against steel brought him back to himself and he turned burning eyes to Jineh.

"What the hell have you done to Kaoru?" he growled in a voice that barely sounded human anymore.

"Oh, something very... _special_, for the girl special enough to have caught your attention, Battousai... and there's nothing you can do now, but watch her die in front of you. It won't take more than five minutes, at most, but I'm sure it will seem like much longer to her."

Jineh's left hand was on the floor almost before he'd finished his sentence, and Kenshin was leaping at him again with fangs bared and sword flashing.

"You'll die first," he swore, biting the words off, "and then I'll hunt you through the depths of Hell to make sure that it's not the end of your suffering at my hands."

Kaoru noticed the spray of blood across the floor in front of her with a numb lack of comprehension. There was blackness spreading across her field of vision, and piercing cold that she couldn't quite remember the reason for.

It was important that she remember. She knew that it was important.

'_Red...'_ she thought, _'Strange time of night to be painting the floor that color... there was another floor like that... there was one that I painted... it was... it was...'_

Most of Jineh's coat was covered in spreading stains now, even if blood was no longer pouring from his severed wrist. Kenshin wasn't even allowing him the pretense of being able to defend himself, leaping up and bringing his sword down to shatter his collarbone and drive the jagged edges through muscles and veins.

Rage coursed through his veins, pulsing white-hot in time with his racing heart.

He couldn't lose her like this.

He wouldn't.

No matter what it took, he would find a way. There was no doubt in his mind that Jineh was lying when he said there was nothing that could be done to break the effects of his spell. It was a tactic to cause Kenshin to despair, and he viewed it with equal parts fury and disdain.

"You're a fool, Jineh," Kenshin spat as he neatly slashed up along the side of his head, sending blood and cartilage flying "You're not even worth this much of my time, and it's _pathetic_ that you resorted to using someone else to try to increase your own sense of power and importance."

The flash of his blade in the light as he flicked the blood off of it sounded a chord in Kaoru's memory as she panted and stared and tried to re-assemble the jigsaw pieces floating around in her mind.

'_Cleaning the blood off of his sword... he isn't supposed to have that sword... because I...´ _

... Running down the hallway, blood on the floor, and a knife, and fire...

'_I took his sword'_ she remembered, and felt proud that she knew that much about the man in front of her. She became aware of the numbness clenching her heart as something separate from herself, and concentrated on pushing it back, not caring that it was replaced with prickles of pain, like coming in from outside on an overly cold day when you'd forgotten your gloves.

'_Red hair, and amber eyes... but sometimes violet...'_ Kaoru thought, _'This is important... he smells like ginger and pine trees... '_

The next blow slashed upwards past Jineh's futile attempt to block it... or would have slashed, except that Kenshin flipped his sword and used it to merely break Jineh's jaw, to stop the insane, babbling giggle that was still pouring out of the madman's mouth, in spite of the damage already done to him.

He was running out of time and he knew it. He glanced over to where Kaoru's fists where tightly clenched, her head bowed as she fought for air. Kenshin had hoped that slowly filleting his opponent would give him time to reconsider, to attempt to bargain by taking the spell off Kaoru, but it appeared that Jineh wasn't going to say any such thing.

Blurring forwards, Kenshin pulled Jineh forwards by the collar.

"This is your last chance, Jineh," he hissed. "Release her, and I _might_ consider letting you live."

His speech garbled by his rapidly-healing jaw, Jineh replied, "I told you, Battousai, there's nothing that can save her. If you're so concerned, perhaps you should spend her last minutes with her, instead of with..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Kenshin had sliced through his vocal cords and tossed him against the wall.

"I don't think that you're telling me the truth, Jineh," he said with a deadly calm as he brought up his sword, "Shall we test my theory that inflicting enough pain on you will be enough to break your concentration, that killing you will break the spell outright?"

And he blurred forward again, the last thing Jineh saw as a flash of silver cut across his vision and replaced it with pain and a spray of warm blood against his cheeks.

'_There's a logical reason why I'm here on this floor; I'm sure of it... I'm a very logical person, and so there must be a reason...if I could just figure out what it is. It has to do with that man...'_ Kaoru thought _'he came here to rescue me and... eww... that did not look pleasant...'_

Another fragment drifted through her memory, the man with red hair and his sword and a group of figures littering the floor of an auditorium. Gritting her teeth, Kaoru tried to match that image with the scene playing out in front of her, to put a name to his face.

She had a feeling that his name would let the pieces fall back into place, would get rid of this feeling of not being able to breath around the black hole in her chest.

Kaoru took as deep a breath as she could manage, and focused on the image of the man with red hair.

'_I know you...'_

... standing under a lamppost, giving her a look that was part smile and part smirk...

'_I know you...'_

...holding out coffee and sandwiches, a peace offering or apology...

'_I know you...'_

... swift and fierce and frightening in the dark, on the stairs, those same stairs...

'_I know you...'_

... those same stairs where he had once stood, asking her if she trusted him...

'_I know you...'_

.. running full-tilt into him in a high school hallway and growling at him to get out of the way, annoyed at his expression,

'_I know you...'_

... the brush of hands over her arms and abdomen on a dark dance floor, when she hadn't known him, except that perhaps she had, had recognized those sparks under her skin, that warmth...

'_I KNOW you...'_

A flood of images: he was carrying boxes and laughing with her friends; stalking his victims in a darkened auditorium; standing over her in a hallway with the light shining into his amber eyes; violet eyes sparkling as he asked her questions related to cleaning and moving; standing in front of her, fierce and protective in the classroom, and she still didn't know exactly why; the anguish and fury in his voice, under the lamppost, when she'd been snatched away by the laughing madman who was bleeding onto the floor in front of her... the expression in his eyes then, and the expression when she'd been hit with cold and searing pain...

And it all coalesced in the space of a heartbeat, and she _remembered_, and looked up...

"_KENSHIN!"_

He spun at the sound of her voice, hope blossoming in his chest, seeing the light sparking once again in those brilliant blue eyes.

"Kaoru? Kaoru!"

She struggled to her feet, and her eyes widened as she saw beyond Kenshin's shoulder, to where Jineh, blinking newly-healed eyes, was raising his sword in what was clearly a final, desperate charge. Before she could do more than open her mouth to call out a warning, Kenshin had spun around, hand on the hilt of his sword. He blurred forward as he unsheathed it, slashing cleanly as Jineh's own momentum carried him forward. Then Kenshin pivoted and slashed again, sending his opponent's head rolling across the floor.

'_I think I'm in shock,'_ Kaoru thought dazedly, _'Because otherwise that would have really, really bothered me...'_

Kenshin was at her side almost before he finished sheathing his sword again, opening his mouth to say something to her as she looked up into amber eyes that were still burning, but with relief, and something that seemed fierce and protective at the same time.

But before he could say whatever it was that he had in mind, Kaoru felt her knees giving out again as blackness swam across her vision until it erased even the last bright spots of red that she saw as he moved forwards to catch her.

* * *

Next Chapter: Kaoru deals with the aftermath, Kenshin deals with clean-up, and the author looks up the definition of "fanservice."

Author's Notes: It should probably bother me that I had so much fun writing psycho creepy smalltalk for Jineh in this chapter... and yet somehow... BWA HA HA! Ahem! At any rate, I hope that the violence level did not bother anybody too much. I upped the rating for this chapter to prepare people. And.. gah.. action scene. Hope that it made sense. I figured that if I was going to give demons and so on in this story freaky healing powers, I should take advantage of it.

In this chapter I do not own: A deserted factory, although if I had one I would try to turn it into a fetching set of loft apartments rather than using it as an Evil Hide-Out. Well, probably. I also do not own the poem "The Highwayman," the "Aladdin" movie, "MacGyver," "The A-Team," or Occam's Razor, which is basically the theory that the simplest solution should be looked at first. Two people have asked me if I would give more specific info on where exactly the various references are in the chapters and what I'm quoting where.. hmm... I will think about it, as an addition for when I have the time...

Reviewer Responses: I'm glad that people liked the sword-retrieval chapter, and Kaoru's sword-concealment strategy! As you can see, it really needed to be a separate chapter. Many folks wanted to see Kaoru in action, deploying her powers of sarcasm, in this chapter—hope that this fulfilled that need! Anyway.. I have to do this quickly so that I can go pack, on account of upcoming vacation trip-ness. I am as always thrilled when people review, and am terribly happy that folks are enjoying this story. Um... lots of reviews to respond to; will do as many individual ones as I can manage before I have to go off and pack things. And, since they're in a hurry, I apologize in advance for the responses being.. um.. somewhat more spazzy than normal.

Anne Novemberly: As always, love your reviews. Um.. .are you somehow getting the chapters a week later? This is being posted on May 14th, at any rate, just to give you an idea. I have a feeling that Kenshin, after seeing Kaoru all dolled up in her apartment, engaged in constructive stalking. Probably called Aoshi to re-locate their meeting to the club, etc. (P.S.: Don't worry; nobody seems to have gotten terribly worried about Poor Roger.)

Apathetic Empath: That's exactly what Misao and Kaoru were talking about—glad that it made sense! I am a bit fuzzy on what exactly counts as lime, but am glad that the finger-nibbling worked. Hee.

Grimnoire: Well... I don't think of Kaoru's grandfather as being exactly Kagome's.. I mean, Inuyasha is not going to suddenly show up. I just borrowed the idea of a slightly wacky, magic-using grandfather so that I could have somebody to put charms all over the sword.

Indygodusk: I think it's mostly because Kenshin can't move through the shadows all the time when he's trying to live among humans.. and, yes, so that he could bug Kaoru about giving her a ride.

Iridescent Twilight: That would be a good strategy for Kenshin to adopt when dealing with Kaoru.. on the other hand, he seems to like being surprised. As to how on earth Kaoru will explain a sword under her bed to one doubtless curious and worried little brother.. have to wait and see!

Jade Lightening Wolf: Hmm.. nope, haven't read Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, but she sounds worth checking out! I'm thinking about doing a more explicit reference guide, if I have the time. Kaoru didn't have her living room blinds down because it was still light out, and she was frantically running for the phone while wrapped in a towel (and she didn't know that Kenshin was where he could see her, after all!). Megumi and Sano are dating, not engaged or married yet. Let's see.. I have been compared to Misao, but also to Kaoru, so who knows. Nothing has been cut yet; if and when I do cut things for I'll post the full version elsewhere and let folks know, don't worry.

Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko: Glad that you liked the boot conversation!

KendoPunk: Hmm. don't know that song, but will try to find it at some point. And, yes... this chapter does show that Kenshin very much does not have a no killing vow. He also has no "no dismembering, maiming, or slicing" vow...

Linay: Glad that you liked the club chapter, and the sword-finding chapter (short though it was...).

Nekotsuki: I have more sympathy than ever now for your thoughts on writing action scenes.. sigh. Glad that you liked Kenshin's POV! And, look! Kaoru and Jineh and swords and.. and... well, various things.

Ookami-Hitomi: Well, you know, there is that Halloween party lurking somewhere in the future...

PinayTiger: Hmm... most of Kaoru's sarcasm was in her thoughts, but it was there!

pyramidgirl89: I think it's because Jineh gets First Kidnapping Dibs in the overall story... plus it's the first time we get to see Kenshin in full Battousai mode... And also, the Jinchu Arc never got animated (Yet! she said, with unbridled hope...), so people are probably less familiar with that.

shattered immortality: Glad that you liked the "chattering," and protective Kenshin.. he was not a happy boy in these last several chapters...

Skenshingumi: Yup, the grandfather is an "Inuyasha" shout-out. And, yes, Kenshin was.. Very, Very Cranky in this chapter. Really quite peeved.

Triste1: Rats.. I thought I'd caught that breath/breathe mistake... although that might have been in a previous chapter... Yes, I'm trying to include stuff from the original manga/anime.. that, for me, is the most fun part of writing an AU: You get to play with canon!


	17. Rude Awakenings

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Seventeen: Rude Awakening

* * *

The first thing she registered as she slowly swam back to consciousness was warmth, a complete contrast to the coldness she vaguely remembered from before darkness had engulfed her.

Now she felt warm and comfortable, and she sighed as she let herself relax into it further.

'_This is... nice...'_ Kaoru thought to herself. She let herself drift for a few minutes, not wanting to wake up fully and deal with some of the nastier images floating around in the recesses of her mind.

Lazily stringing together her current surroundings, Kaoru registered a steady rhythm that was echoing through her, the way whatever she was resting on shifted slightly, so that she could feel its surface, smooth but firm enough that she wasn't sinking into it, and the pervasive scent of ginger and something like pine trees.

Everything clicked together suddenly, and Kaoru sat bolt upright.

Well, she would have, except for the fact that there was a pair of very strong arms encircling her, and so she couldn't move more than a few inches before they tightened and pulled her back down against what she now recognized as Kenshin's chest.

His very bare chest.

As he re-adjusted his hold on her, he moved to bury his nose in her hair, apparently perfectly content to do nothing else.

"K... Kenshin!" Kaoru said in what was intended to be a low hiss, but which came out somewhat breathless.

"Mmm...?" he inquired, still content with breathing against her hair.

"What... where... how... What are you _doing_?"

"Good morning to you too, kitten," Kenshin said, a faint chuckle in his voice.

This time, when she went to sit up slightly, he relaxed his arms enough that she could. As she braced herself on her arms, pain shot through them, and, at the expression on her face, Kenshin instantly brought her back down against his chest, then rolled both of them slightly so that she could look up at him without using them.

She looked down and saw that both of her arms had been carefully bandaged, practically up to her elbows. Blinking, she remembered. _'My wrists were tied... I had to get the rope off, and ended up getting cut...'_

That memory brought back a flood of other images: blood, and pain, and violence, and cold, and Kaoru felt herself start to tremble violently, tears threatening to choke her.

"Shhh... it's all right, you're safe," he murmured, his hands moving comfortingly up and down her back.

She had a moment of panic unrelated to her memories of the previous night at the feel of his calloused palms and fingers against her bare skin, before she realized that she was still wearing the top that Misao had picked out.

"This is obviously some new meaning of the word "safe" of which I was previously unaware," Kaoru groused, refusing to let herself relax against him again, letting her annoyance help dispel the previous night. Looking around, she confirmed that she was indeed in a bed she didn't know, with someone she unfortunately did.

"Why am I here?" she demanded.

"Isn't it a little early in the day for philosophical questions?" Kenshin asked with distinct amusement, his hands continuing their idle motions up and down her back.

"Idiot. You know what I mean."

He grinned down at her annoyed expression, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. If she was losing her temper with him this early, she was clearly feeling much better.

"I brought you here after you fainted," Kenshin replied "You had wounds that needed to be taken care of, and..." '... _and if you think I was going to let you go after almost losing you, Kaoru, you have got another think coming.'_

She stiffened slightly as something occurred to her "And... Jineh?" While normally seeing someone get decapitated would be a pretty good sign they weren't going to be a problem again, she'd seen enough of Jineh's healing abilities—not to mention Kenshin's—that she felt compelled to ask.

"Also taken care of," Kenshin said firmly, unconsciously tightening his arms around her. "Don't worry; I made very, _very_ sure that he wasn't going to be bothering anybody else, ever again."

"Ah." Kaoru wasn't quite sure what to say to that, except that she was absolutely positive that she didn't want to know the details.

She finally settled on, "Well... thank you for the bandages, Kenshin; I'm going to go..."

"No. You're not. Sorry, kitten, but... you're not."

"I... you... you what?" Kaoru managed, not sure she'd heard correctly. He was doing that hair-nuzzling thing again, and it was very... distracting.

"Well, for one thing, you need to eat breakfast," he said in a suspiciously reasonable tone. "And I need to check and change those bandages for you."

"Don't both of those things require you to actually move? As in, let go of me and get out of the bed?"

"True," he acknowledged. But he still gave no sign of moving from his current position.

"Ken. Shin." Kaoru half-growled, "I really would like to get out of the bed and get on with my day so that I can go home. My hair is a mess and I didn't even get a chance to remove my make-up last night. Not to mention... that place wasn't very... I'm sure nobody had cleaned the floor since it..."

She was still trying to find a way to explain, tactfully, although she had no idea why she felt the need to be _tactful_, that she felt filthy and probably smelled bad, and that if she didn't get a chance to shower soon to get rid of the dirt she could practically feel crawling all over her, she was going to start pitching a screaming fit and throwing things.

Fortunately for her, Kenshin, whose arms had tightened again when she had started talking about the factory, let out a long sighing breath that brushed the hairs along the back of her neck and replied, "Ok. You shower and I'll fix breakfast, and then I'll change your bandages before we eat."

With that, he released her, but kept his arms close to help her if she gave any sign of needing it. Then he got out of bed himself, walking around her and allowing his hands to rest briefly on her shoulders as he passed behind her.

"The bathroom's this way. Hang on; I'll find you something to wear." He had thought about getting some of her own clothes after he'd brought her pale form home the previous night, but had decided against it on the grounds that a) he kind of liked the idea of some of his clothing smelling like Kaoru afterwards, b) there was no way that he was going to leave Kaoru alone for even a moment and he didn't think it was a good idea to drag her from apartment to apartment, and c) Kaoru would attack him with anything she could get her hands on if she thought he'd been wandering around in her apartment. Rummaging through his things, he came up with a pair of black sweatpants, cotton boxers, and a comfortable flannel shirt. "Here; will these work?"

Kaoru, who was currently occupied in trying not to focus on the fact that Kenshin was wearing black silk boxers, and only black silk boxers, blinked and said, "Um. Er. Yes. Thank you. Those will be fine and where's the shower?"

Kenshin shifted the clothes to his left arm and came over to Kaoru, putting his other arm carefully around her waist, once again not close enough to touch, but enough to direct her over towards one of the doors leading off of the bedroom.

The not-quite-contact brought back a flood of memories from the previous night that had her turning red and trying to get away from him by stepping forward. Which turned out to be a completely wasted effort on her part, because the only result was that Kenshin moved so that his hand _was_ actually resting on the curve of her waist, and was suddenly so close that he was slightly pressing up against her back, and she could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke in a low voice.

"Be careful, kitten. Don't push yourself; you had a rough night last night, and you need to be taken care of."

"I can take care of _myself_," Kaoru retorted, "I'm just _fine_..." then squeaked slightly as Kenshin's other arm came to circle her waist, hand spreading out across her ribs to just under the bottom of her top, as he pulled her close, burying his face against her hair, his slightly unsteady breathing ghosting across her neck.

'_He's not supposed to be doing this anymore...'_ swam through Kaoru's slightly dazed brain. Before she could recover enough to either elbow him sharply or make a pointed remark, Kenshin had taken a deep breath and a step backwards, and was suddenly at her side to open the door to the bathroom.

Kaoru blinked. She hadn't known that any of the apartments in her complex—which was not by any stretch of the imagination luxurious—had bathrooms that were this nice. There was a very large tub, with what looked like whirlpool jets, and a shower that looked like it would have really good water pressure.

She was admiring the decorating scheme and wondering idly if it had been this way when Kenshin had moved in or if interior decorating was one of his demonic skills when she was pulled from her train of thought by Kenshin handing her a very large, very fluffy towel with several bottles on top of it.

"Here; soap, shampoo, conditioner. And towel. Take your time; feel free to take a bath if you'd prefer. I'm going to be out in the kitchen fixing breakfast. Holler if you need anything." With that, he turned and left her in the bathroom, carefully closing the door.

Kenshin was being brusque, and he knew it. However, frankly, it was either brusqueness or him being in the shower with her and making personally sure that every hint of the previous night's trauma was thoroughly washed away. And, as tempting as that thought was, he knew that it wasn't a good idea. Yet.

Once he'd left the room, Kaoru blinked down at the towel in her hand.

She could just tell that this was going to be a very... strange day. Much stranger than the normal degree of strange that she tended to encounter.

Kaoru looked at the bathtub with consideration, and no small degree of longing, but decided that she should really just take a quick shower. She wanted to get home as soon as she could; she had a lot to do. First on her agenda was taking a long time, _on her own_, to think about the previous night's events and what they meant.

'_Kenshin has his sword back. And he rescued me anyway. In a spectacularly violent fashion, which did nothing to reassure me about how dangerous he is. Except that he could have left me to a really, really nasty fate, and he didn't... and he was furious with Jineh for taking me. Really, violently, bloodily, mercilessly, extremely...'_ Realizing that she was getting caught up in memories and speculation, Kaoru whapped herself lightly on the side of the head. In her book, "first on the agenda" meant "after coffee, and a shower," with the possible addition of time to perform katas or relax in some other way to get her mind in better working order. Otherwise she was prone to thinking in circles, or wandering off in random mental directions; sometimes both.

Considering everything that she had to think about today, she was fairly certain she would need every weapon in her arsenal (so to speak) to get her brain ready to work through it all.

She carefully unwrapped the bandages from her arms, hissing through her teeth as they stuck slightly. There were several long, nasty-looking scratches and a host of smaller abrasions from her encounter with the splintery wood of the windowsill at the factory, although any actual splinters seemed to have been carefully removed. On the whole, however, she was glad that she hadn't injured herself more.

Or been injured more.

One of her wrists also had a bruised-looking marking on it that she couldn't quite place, until memories of the earlier part of last night's activities, with Kenshin holding her wrist lightly as he brought his mouth down to her pulse, made her blush violently and automatically rub her wrist against the towel as if she could erase the mark.

'_Damn it... this is not... I don't need... This is why I left the club. And promptly got kidnapped. And what would have happened if Kenshin hadn't been being his usual annoying stalk-y self and I had been out on that street on my own? Well, actually, since the whole point was to grab me when Kenshin was there, I probably would only have had to worry about your normal muggers and rapists and drunks and... .SHOWER, Kaoru, stop admiring the faucets and thinking about street criminals...'_

Disposing of the bandages and putting the clothes Kenshin had given her on a convenient shelf, Kaoru finally got out of her club outfit from the previous night, tossing it into a corner of the room with a glare as if she could somehow blame it for much of her current confusion.

Actually, considering the way that those pants fit, and how much the top... wasn't much... blaming the clothes wasn't such a bad idea...

'_Mmm... this is indeed really good water pressure...'_ Kaoru thought as she finally let herself relax in the warmth of the shower. She looked at the bottles Kenshin had given her and frowned slightly.

'_I have to get clean. I mean, I really have to get clean, really right now. On the other hand, I really, really don't want to end up smelling like Kenshin. Not that Kenshin smells bad... in fact, he really... I mean, he's got... '_

This time, she lightly whapped her head against the wall of the shower, then stood there leaned against the wall, counting to forty-two and then back down again.

'_Being clean is the important thing. You can always just rinse extremely thoroughly. More than once.'_

Fortunately, when she opened the bottles, the scent that greeted her was neither ginger nor anything pine-y, but was a familiar, subtle floral.

'_Oh, good, this is almost... exactly... like... mine... Oh. Oh, no, no, no; I really don't want another thing on my Agenda of Things I Don't Want To Think About But Have To Anyway...'_

Reminding herself once again that being clean was what was important, and that at least she'd smell like her normal self rather than... somebody else... Kaoru proceeded to wash her hair, twice, to get rid of the stripes Misao had put in, and then washed until she was sure that any trace of club smoke or factory dirt or anything else that she might have come into contact with the previous night was washed away.

* * *

After throwing on a pair of pants, Kenshin had decided to work on breakfast. He was half-listening to the shower and half mixing batter for pancakes. Or possibly waffles; he hadn't decided yet. Either way, it wasn't escaping his notice that he was mixing with a great deal more vigor than usual.

While it was true that Jineh had paid for what he had done, what he had _tried_ to do to Kaoru, with enough interest to satisfy even Kenshin, that didn't mean that Kenshin was currently at peace about it.

When he had called Yahiko after bringing Kaoru back to his apartment, the boy had been both grateful and worried, even after Kenshin had reassured him that his sister was only slightly scratched and that he had already taken care of bandaging her arms.

Somehow, Kenshin hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Yahiko that Kaoru had come horribly close to dying.

Because of _him._

Jineh had taken her because of him; Jineh had sought to use and hurt Kaoru to get to him; Jineh had taken advantage of a momentary lapse on Kenshin's part to bespell Kaoru and had almost killed her.

'_I knew that she was in danger, but I missed Jineh's true purpose in letting himself get wounded until it was too late... I will not allow something like that to happen again. None of it.'_

Letting the batter rest for a while, Kenshin started more coffee and went to call Aoshi.

"I need you to set up some protection for Kaoru," Kenshin said without preamble. "Today, as soon as you can get over here. Her car, her apartment. As unobtrusively as you can, but it needs to be thorough. I'm already working on finding something for her personal protection, but it will take a couple of days... Have I thought about calling _who_?" There was a long silence while Kenshin thought about what Aoshi had said. "What? No, I'm still here... that's... well, you know how I feel about talking to that... that..." he trailed off before concluding in a firm tone, "You're right. It's a good idea, for during the week. I'll get in touch with him about it. Let me know when you're done here. Thanks, Aoshi."

After he had hung up the phone, he went and set the table. It was more of an attempt at distracting himself, and he knew it. On the other hand, it was also something that needed to be done, so he didn't really mind.

When Kaoru came out into the kitchen, hair damp and curling down her back, wearing his pants fastened tightly around her slender waist, the sleeves of his shirt flopping over her hands even after she'd folded the cuffs back, several other possible distractions sprang immediately to Kenshin's mind, but he kept his expression carefully schooled to that of a good host and merely said, "Pancakes or waffles?"

She blinked and bit her lip thoughtfully in a way that really did nothing to help his efforts to remain calm and casual. "Um... waffles, I think. If it's not a problem."

Kenshin shook his head and poured them both a cup of coffee before he got out the waffle iron.

'_This is... disturbingly domestic,'_ Kaoru thought to herself. _'Good thing he's not wearing an apron, because then I...well, it would involve hysterical laughter and possibly being very freaked out at the same time...'_

Once he had gotten everything set up so that the waffles would cook quite happily on their own, Kenshin picked the first aid kit up from off the counter and brought it over to where Kaoru was happily communing with her coffee.

"Give me your arm; I'm going to put new bandages on." Kenshin said.

"Oh, that's ok; I bandaged them back up before I got... Hey!" Kaoru said indignantly as Kenshin ignored her statement and pulled her arm forward. His grip was gentle, but when she tried to pull her hand back, she couldn't move it.

"They're fine! I'm a big girl, and I can apply bandages and everything... Kenshin!"

He continued to ignore her, and unwrapped the bandages she had put on once she was out of the shower. His expression when he saw the scratches was indecipherable, but she thought his jaw tightened momentarily before he reached for a container of salve that didn't have a brand name on it that she could recognize.

"This might sting a little... I'm sorry..." Kenshin said as he applied the salve with gentle sweeps of his fingers, still holding her wrist gently with his other hand. She muttered something under her breath that might have been directed at the salve or at him; it wasn't entirely clear. He wrapped the bandages carefully, as if she was something entirely fragile, and then switched to her other arm.

When he saw the bruise on her inner wrist, he blinked momentarily, and then Kaoru felt his hand momentarily tighten and saw bright flashes of amber in his eyes as he too remembered where that particular mark had come from.

He ran his thumb over it, slowly, and Kaoru felt the breath hitch in her throat for a moment.

"Um... Kenshin?" she ventured when he gave no sign of moving.

The sound of her voice seemed to snap him out of whatever he'd been thinking, and he immediately moved to pick up the salve again, making no comment on his momentary distraction.

Not wanting to open _that_ particular can of worms, Kaoru didn't say anything either. She also didn't say anything about the way that his hands had gotten more... more... _caressing _as he ran them up and down her forearm, then carefully smoothed the bandages around her arm.

"How's that?" Kenshin said.

"Um... good; it's... thank you," Kaoru replied, a faint nervous prickling making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Good," Kenshin said, and that was all the warning she had before she suddenly found herself in his lap, being kissed with something that was akin to desperation. His arms were wrapped around her waist, one hand splayed against her back underneath the shirt she had borrowed from him. She could feel the roughness of his palm, warm against her skin, pulling her as close as he could as she straddled his waist where he sat in the chair.

Kenshin could feel Kaoru's heart racing in time with his, a sure and welcome sign that she was alive; alive and warm and here with him, pressing herself against him in ways that made all his resolutions about letting her rest, about taking it slowly, about doing anything other than never letting her go, ever again, crumble into dust and fall away.

He needed to taste her, to hear the faint gasps that she made when his tongue slipped past her lips, to run his hands over the smoothness of her skin, following the same path they had taken the night before in the club, but this time, actually touching her. At the same time, he was unwilling to let her get far enough away from his body to let his hands have free reign, and so he compromised by caressing her side with the hand that had been spread across her back while his other arm wrapped around her tightly. Kenshin could feel the press of her breasts up against his chest, the thin fabric of her borrowed shirt the only thing separating his skin from hers, and he felt a growl rumble through his throat, a sound that elicited a faint noise from Kaoru that had him pulling her closer, deepening their kiss.

Kaoru could taste the coffee that Kenshin had been drinking before he'd started bandaging her wrists, superimposed over the ginger that she usually associated with him. She wanted to memorize his taste, to decipher the wilder elements in it that she still couldn't quite define. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her hands in the length of his hair, pressing her chest against his and feeling how the contact, even through the fabric between them, sent unfamiliar sparks shivering through her veins. When Kenshin pulled back slightly to let her breathe, she found herself sprinkling kisses along his jawline, seeking out the taste of his skin without even thinking about it. He inhaled sharply and said something that might have been her name, then claimed her mouth again, fiercely, his arms wrapping around her tightly and pulling her against him. The heat of his body made her moan in turn, and she found herself arching closer, moving her hips forward into his lap, wanting to get as close as she possibly could, wanting...

The sudden, loud ringing of the waffle iron and the smell of waffles that were just about to become burned snapped Kenshin forcefully back to reality.

'_Damn it..'_ he swore, looking at Kaoru's wide eyes, the way that her lips were kiss-swollen and still slightly parted, registering the way her hands were clutching his shoulders, feeling the sparks pooling in the base of his spine from the way she had pressed herself up against him.

He was trying very, very hard to remember his reasons for not dragging her off to the bedroom right away...or possibly just sweeping the breakfast dishes off of the kitchen table...

'_Control. Control, dammit... she's been through a lot, she's probably in shock, she's in no condition to make this sort of decision... gods, she feels... good...'_

"We should eat..." he finally managed, in a voice that didn't quite sound like his own. "You need to make sure that you have a good breakfast..."

Kaoru blinked at him, trying to connect his words to reality, trying to connect reality to something other than the feel of Kenshin's arms around her, his body pressing against her, her need to feel his lips on hers again...

Then, as he gently started to remove his arms, the entirety of her—of _their_—situation crashed down on her, and she almost fell flat onto the floor in her hurry to scramble backwards, off of his lap, away from him. When Kenshin reached a hand out to try to steady her, she slapped at it, and he didn't try again. In fact, he let her compose herself while he went to take care of the waffles.

Trying to get her breathing back under control, Kaoru stared at the floor, willing her heartrate to slow back down, the strange sparking feeling under her skin to go away.

'_He... he... I... Hey! He's not supposed to be doing that anymore!'_ she thought with a flush of righteous indignation that part of her knew was more than a little ridiculous, all things considered. Still, it was something that she could latch onto, something to take her mind off of the way that she was feeling.

"You're not supposed to be doing that anymore!" she blurted out without thinking, her tone faintly accusing.

Kenshin, who had gotten the waffles out and divided thembetween two plates, turned to her with one eyebrow raised and said, "Um... excuse me?"

"You... you have your sword back!" Kaoru explained "Um... how did you get your sword back? It was... I mean... I... um... it..."

"Was under your bed," Kenshin said, when Kaoru seemed unwilling or unable to complete her thought.

"Yes! In my room! And... hey! What were you doing in... I mean, getting your sword, but... how did you get into the house?"

Kenshin put the plates of waffles down on the table and shrugged as he went to get the butter and syrup. "I asked your brother. He was very worried about you, by the way, even after I called him last night to let him know that you were ok."

The various bits and pieces of information Kaoru was trying to put together were refusing to play nicely with each other.

'_Kenshin has his sword back. He went to my ­­house and talked to my brother... but since he called afterwards, he apparently didn't kill Yahiko... Kenshin has his sword back, so what does he still need me for, and why is he making me waffles, like this was some sort of perfectly normal, waffles and syrup and coffee and a white picket fence kind of Saturday morning?'_

"Kaoru? Breakfast is ready." With that, Kenshin sat down and started pouring syrup over his own waffles, deliberately focusing on the plate, the waffles, the table, trying very hard to act as if the situation was entirely normal.

'_If I just act as if everything's normal, hopefully Kaoru will automatically do the same thing... people usually do...'_

Staring at him as if he had just sprouted a second head, Kaoru repeated, "You have your sword back... Why are you eating waffles?"

"I'm eating waffles because you asked for waffles, and because it's breakfast time and I'm hungry." Kenshin hesitated, considering whether to say anything else before he added, "It was a very... after last night, we both need to make sure that we eat, so sit down."

"I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm really not," she snapped, backing away from the table and crossing her arms as she glared at him.

Between one glare and the next, Kaoru suddenly found herself sitting in the other chair, Kenshin's hands warm on her shoulders as he murmured, "Don't make me tie you up and feed you myself, kitten. You need to eat breakfast. Unless you want to faint and wake up in my bed again..."

Kaoru closed her mouth on whatever she was going to say next and mutinously dug into the plate of waffles in front of her. The fact that they were absolutely delicious did nothing to help her mood.

Well, actually, the fact that they were absolutely delicious did a great deal to help her mood, but then the fact that demonic waffles were making her feel better got her annoyed all over again, at herself, Kenshin, and the waffles, which she supposed really couldn't be blamed.

As she chewed, she tried to come up with a strategy.

'_Kenshin has his sword back, and clearly isn't afraid to use it. Ignoring the fact that he still seems to enjoy... that he still seems to want... well, anyway, ignoring means not thinking about his mouth and his hands and.. and... any of it, so, moving on to the OTHER problem... now that he has his sword back, there's nothing stopping him from another massacre. Unless I can stab him to death with this fork... except that that would clearly only be a short-term solution... unless I can use that time to find something else to chop his head off with, like his sword, which I'm willing to bet is NOT hidden under his bed...'_

By the time she'd finished breakfast, Kaoru had run through several different strategies, mostly violent, in her mind, and had yet to find one that had any chance of success. For one thing, she didn't even think she could lift the table in the first place, not to mention the fact that casually inquiring where Kenshin kept the steak knives seemed to lack a certain subtlety.

And any vague thoughts of trying to seduce the answer out of him were immediately and vigorously stomped on before they could do more than drift across her mind and annoy her.

Kenshin watched her surreptitiously as she stabbed at the waffles with her fork, her expression dark. He had a sneaking certainty that she was imagining him in place of the waffles she was now dismembering, and it made him hide a grin as he sipped his coffee.

'_She's here, and she's safe,'_ he thought with relief, a touch of the furious panic from the previous night snaking up his spine. _'Probably mad as hell, but safe...'_

He could deal with the first, as long as he was assured of the second.

Kaoru finished her waffles, and went to go put her dishes in the sink. Preferably with enough force to crack them. However, Kenshin was on his feet as quick as thinking, gathering up her plates and mug and silverware along with his own, depositing them in the sink, and turning back to face her.

"Well," he said calmly, "What would you like to do today?"

She blinked at him, mouth gaping, "I... you... I'm going _home_ now, you idiot. Thank you for breakfast. And the bandages. Have a good day."

Spinning on her heel, Kaoru stalked out of the kitchen... and almost ran smack into Kenshin again, who had somehow managed to maneuver himself around her. Again. Fortunately, she managed to stop herself from plowing into him, and deftly avoided the hands he reached out to steady her.

"No," Kenshin said, repeating his earlier comments, "You're not. It... it's not safe yet."

"It's not _safe_?" Kaoru asked, incredulous, "What the hell do you mean, it's not safe? You said that Jineh was dead—really, most sincerely dead!—didn't you?"

"Yes," Kenshin acknowledged with a nod of his head, "He is. I promise. But..." His jaw tightened and his eyes were definitely tinged with amber as he continued, "I refuse to allow the possibility of something like that happening again."

Kaoru closed her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, and said in a tone that would have had any of her friends scrambling for cover, "What, _exactly_, makes you think that something like that could happen again? Do I suddenly have some sort of target sign hanging over my head, _Battousai_? Is there any particular _reason_ why random demonic lunatics are going to look at me and decide I'm worth grabbing?" Her eyes were sparking at him as she continued, "If this is because of that maniac saying that I'm ... if this is because of what Jineh said... oh, I'm going to bludgeon you to death with a set of encyclopedias, you... you... stuck-up, arrogant, unbearable, high-handed..." She trailed off, glaring at him.

Kenshin met her eyes squarely, his gaze direct. "I don't think that something like that could happen again," _'and if I had even a hint that it might, I would make sure that the problem was eliminated before it could even get close to her...'_ "But I'm taking some precautions to make absolutely sure, and until they're completed, you're staying here where I can keep an eye on you. And I really don't care what I have to do to make sure of that."

His tone was completely calm, and brooked no argument. Kaoru glared at him, aware of the fact that her hands were clenching into fists, that she was practically grinding her teeth.

"I don't think that something like that could happen again, ever," Kenshin repeated, "and the precautions I have in mind aren't even things you'll notice; they won't interfere with your life. They'll be in place by tonight."

"You're just doing this to make yourself feel better about what happened," Kaoru accused harshly, "It doesn't have anything to do with me, not really."

He hissed slightly, and Kaoru's eyes widened at his expression, the blazing gold of his eyes. Her half-step backwards was interrupted as his hands grasped her arms and pushed her up against the doorframe, his chest pressing up against hers as he leaned in, his breath hot against her neck and in her ear, his voice a growling whisper.

"Yes, it does, Kaoru; don't ever say, don't even _think_ that it isn't about you." She could feel the racing of his heart, the way that his warm hands clasped around her upper arms, the slight raggedness of his breath against her neck, the way that his lips were barely touching her skin.

Kaoru was frozen in place, holding perfectly still. She was barely daring to breathe, because breathing brought her chest into firmer contact with Kenshin's, letting her feel the way that his heart was pounding.

Her thoughts were swimming dizzily, impossible to organize. _'He's not supposed to... why on earth does he... I mean, my neck, and... this makes no... and... should just kick him, really I should, and...'_

"L-let go, Kenshin," she finally managed, hating the way that her voice sounded breathy and hesitant, focusing on her own annoyance to distract herself from the confusion she was feeling.

Kenshin took several deep breaths against her, the way he exhaled making the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Then, very carefully, he let go and backed up, bringing one hand up under Kaoru's chin to raise her face so that she was forced to meet his amber gaze.

"Don't even think it isn't about you," he repeated. "I refuse to allow someone like Jineh to hurt you again."

Kaoru blinked.

'_He refuses... Ok, see, that makes it about him again,'_ she thought distractedly as Kenshin guided her into the living room with one hand curled around her elbow.

"Now, kitten," Kenshin said in a voice that was much closer to his normal tones, his eyes once again that blue violet color, "Try to decide if there's anything in particular you want for lunch, and feel free to watch TV. I'm going to wash the dishes from breakfast and get the kitchen cleaned up." With that, he vanished back into the kitchen, leaving Kaoru with her mouth hanging slightly open as she stared from him to the couch to the large television set in one corner of the room.

'_Damn it... I've been kidnapped by a demon!'_ she realized, '_Again! Although this is much nicer than a factory and the threat of being chopped up into mincemeat... I think... probably... Well, since I'm here, I should make some attempt at finding where he might have hidden that sword, so I can steal it back... And then leave town for a couple of years... good thing I have a car now... '_

Turning on the TV and turning up the volume to cover her movements, Kaoru snuck a glance at the kitchen. She could hear the sound of running water, and there was no sign of Kenshin, so she assumed he was in fact washing the dishes.

'_He really is quite bafflingsly domestic,'_ Kaoru thought as she ran her hands under the couch. _'No sword here... not even a dustbunny... Bookshelves? Not back here... hey, wow, I didn't know this was out yet...Focus! Leave the shiny new books alone and concentrate on finding nasty edged weapons...'_

There were also no signs of a sword or any kind of sword-sized hiding place in the rest of the living room or the bathroom. Not that she was expecting, say, a sword wrapped in plastic to be stuck in the toilet tank, but Kaoru figured that it was better to be thorough.

After all, you wouldn't expect to find a sword wrapped in paper and stuck under a teenaged-girl's bed, either.

Unsurprised, but disgruntled in spite of it, Kaoru flopped back down onto the soft leather of the couch. It was very comfortable. She glared at the couch itself, just on general principle and turned the TV down to a reasonable volume.

When Kenshin came back out from the kitchen, Kaoru was curled up on the couch, the TV remote falling from limp fingers. Her hair was falling loosely around her face and neck, and he resisted the temptation to brush it back.

'_Good, she needs her sleep... hopefully it will help her get over the stress of last night...Besides which, sleeping means that she isn't fighting me about staying here, and that's also good...'_ Kenshin thought, equal parts worry and practicality.

He wondered briefly if he should carry her back into the bedroom, but decided against it, at least until after he'd had a chance to shower. Once she was back in his bed, he doubted he would be able to resist curling up around her, just to breathe in her scent and know that she was safe, and that was something he would prefer to wait to do until he was clean. He settled for placing a blanket carefully over her, and then headed towards the bathroom.

The minute she heard the water starting, Kaoru cautiously cracked one eye open.

'_Good... I knew he'd probably want to shower after he'd cleaned the kitchen... cleaning seems to be his thing, doesn't it... except for those occasions when he's getting things all... messy again... Not the time to think about that; time to get out of this stupid apartment!'_

Sneaking as carefully as she could, Kaoru took one of the kitchen chairs and propped it under the handle of the bathroom door. The water kept running, and she was fairly certain she could hear... singing? She raised an eyebrow. Realizing that she was leaning forwards and trying to catch the lyrics, she rolled her eyes and scowled at herself, then snuck back out into the living room. She put her boots on, her eyes scanning the room.

'_Door... door... door...'_ Kaoru thought, looking for a way out. _'With my luck, I'll do something 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'-esque and trap myself in the closet.'_

Fortunately, the door out of the apartment was easily identifiable. Unfortunately, it was also clearly very locked.

Biting her lip, Kaoru considered her options. A glance out the window had revealed that they were up too high for her to climb out the window and figure out a way down, unless she could find a very long rope.

'_Now... if I were a spare key, where would I be... outside, would be under a flowerpot or one of those fake rocks... inside, though... guess I need to find that closet after all..'_

There was a rack of keys on the inside of the door, and Kaoru quickly found the two that seemed most likely to be for the front door.

The second key worked, turning with very little noise. The minute the door started to open, Kaoru heard a voice calling her name from the direction of the bathroom, and she fled into the hallway and towards the staircase, slamming the door behind her.

Kenshin was out of the shower the minute he felt the door being opened, the wards on the apartment sparking as they were breached. The fact that they were being breached from the inside did nothing to make him feel better. He yelled Kaoru's name, and swore when the only response was the door closing again, violently.

Going to open the door out of the bathroom, Kenshin was brought up short by the fact that something was blocking it. He blinked and tried again, but it was still definitely not opening.

Snarling, Kenshin rammed his shoulder against the door, shattering both it and the chair on the other side. He was in the living room between one heartbeat and the next, but could only confirm that Kaoru was no longer on his couch. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen at all. The only hint as to where she had gone was the fact that his door, which before had definitely been locked, was now undone and had bounced slightly open.

Kenshin was half a second from chasing her out into the hallway, knowing that she couldn't have gotten far, when he realized that dashing out into the hallway and down the stairs while wearing nothing but soapsuds was probably not the best idea.

His eyes were dark and furious as he pulled on his clothes with brisk efficiency.

He didn't know what the hell Kaoru thought she was doing, running away from him when he'd _told_ her that she needed to stay there with him, to stay safe until he could make sure she was properly protected. The coil of worry deep in his gut that something might happen to her twisted, and he knew that his expression was fierce as he headed out into the hallway.

Kenshin followed her trail to the stairs, then down into the lobby. He was surprised; he had expected that she would head home to her apartment. Instead, she had headed out of the building, and he could see from the tire tracks she'd left that she had been driving out of the parking lot as fast as she could.

His smile was grim and fanged as he followed the trail with his eyes.

So... Kaoru wanted to turn this into another hunt, did she?

That was fine.

He always did enjoy it when they tried to run.

* * *

Next Chapter: Misao divides her time between remembering, planning, and shopping. With occasional coffee. Also, Kaoru visits home and gets promptly tackled.

Author's Note: Sorry that I am a bit late in posting! Meh... I think it is quite possibly more annoying to come back from vacation with a nasty cold bug than it would be to have said nasty cold bug while on vacation. Anyway, tea and chicken soup are the order of the weekend.

In this chapter I don't own: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," in any of it's various incarnations, "The Wizard of Oz," or "Four Weddings and a Funeral."

Reviewer Reponses: Wow, many reviews for that last chapter! Whee! It was one of my favorites to write, so I am glad that people liked it. Sorry that I can't answer everybody personally, but I do want to get this posted, and there are too many of you! Which is kind of cool, actually. For those of you who were so kind as to provide a definition of "fanservice," my main question was whether Kenshin wearing nothing but soapsuds counts. Hee. Let's see... other questions that more than one person asked... What Jineh did to Kaoru was indeed supposed to be a kind of demonic version of the Shin no Ippou attack he does in the anime/manga. Love that people like Kaoru's sarcasm and the way that she tries to attack problems with her own brand of logic. And I love that people appreciate that she's a strong character. Also glad that people liked the action scene, and even the gorey bits.

AkaiNeko-Chan: I am always flattered by fanart! Yes, Kenshin's hair is supposed to be down or in a low ponytail in that scene; yes, Kaoru had stripes put into her hair by Misao. I pretty much based Kenshin's outfit on Dragonsdaughter's picture—sort of a modern version of what Battousai wears in the anime/manga flashbacks—gray slacks, blue shirt, dark blue/black suitjacket sort of outfit. You can send a draft if you want! And, the battle scene would also be great to see.

Anne Novemberly: (giggles) I think that Kenshin himself was betaing himself over the head a bit about not looking for his sword there earlier, even though he hasn't known where Kaoru lived and so on for that long. He just didn't think it could be that simple; he was expecting fancy-schmancy protections and magic Rottweilers and so on. I had a thought that Kaoru and Yahiko's dad was out late due to a competition or something, but didn't really mention it at all. You're perfectly right that it is odd he wouldn't notice all the goings-on if he was there. Glad that you liked Yahiko!

Apathetic Empath2: Thank you! I had a lot of fun writing the spell scene and how Kaoru gets out of it. And it's always fun to write possessive/angry Battousai.

Bradybunch4529: Thank you! That was a lovely review. I hope that this chapter was up to standards.

Cobaltsky: He does indeed seem to be getting more romantically aggressive...

Desanera: Thanks for the compliment on character development; I am trying to have it be natural and make sense and not just suddenly change things around.

fantasy angel victoria; Hope the mental images weren't too terribly disturbing... and, glad that you liked the chapter. Also, that the Kaoru-waking-up chapter was to your satisfaction.

Grimnoire: Thank you! I am trying really hard to show off what a strong character Kaoru is.

Haein: No Terry Pratchett references, at least not intentionally. I haven't read all of the Discworld books, so something

Indygodusk: Well, remember how in the anime, when Kaoru is under Jineh's spell, and Kenshin is seriously out to kill him, she thinks back and imagines being in the dojo and hearing Kenshin repeat that quote about "A sword is a weapon" and how he hopes that what Kaoru says will someday be the truth? The whole "remembering" bit was kind of based on that. So, yes, playing with canon.

Iridescent Twilight: For what Kaoru tells Yahiko... stay tuned! Does nothing-but-soapsuds count as flashing? (grins) Sorry that this is a day late and all!

Kat Morning: You may be right that the weirdness is mostly Kaoru's own life and not the various demons. Hee. The action scene was indeed kind of a pain to write, but I'm glad folks think it turned out well.

KouUsa: Always happy to provide remarks!

lily-petal: See, now you've used the poem!

lolo popoki: This was my very first action scene, so... it was a bit nerve-wracking to see if I could get it to make sense.

Nekotsuki: Kaoru is awake! Not happy, but awake. Hee.

omasuoniwabanshi: It's ok! Glad that you are back! Haven't seen "The Haunting," but I am a big fan of not showing everything in order to make things spookier. Loreena McKennit's version of "The Highwayman" is indeed fabulous and beautiful; she does such wonderful music. And, don't worry: many more chapters to go! Including a slew of aftermath-y things...

Ookami-Hitomi: Thanks! Glad that you liked the gore.

pego: Whee! More fanart! I shall await it eagerly!

Shattered Immortality: Kenshin cut Jineh's head off... and then seems to have done other, definitely-permanent things to make sure that he's Not Coming Back.

Triste1: I am glad that reading this is a bright spot! And, you'll be happy to know that I am now specifically checking chapters for the breath/breathe typo (I do know the difference; it's just that even Spellcheck doesn't catch typos like that, argh).


	18. Laying Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher. WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ONE INSTANCE OF LANGUAGE WHICH I BELIEVE COUNTS AS "M' UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM...(but, really, I think it's justified...)

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Eighteen: Laying Plans

* * *

Misao was humming to herself, slightly off-key, as she fixed herself breakfast, ignoring the baleful stares she was getting from her dog. 

Last night had been... it had been...

Well, the fact that her brain wasn't provided the usual flood of words to describe it was really all that needed to be said.

Her memory of the way that he had looked, leaning against the club wall and staring out across the bar area, was enough to make her sigh and almost pour orange juice all over the kitchen table. While it was true that Misao had chattered non-stop to Kaoru about going out so that they could drink and dance and, well, "frolic," as she had jokingly put it, she hadn't actually expected to find anybody that she wanted to spend time with for more than a couple of dances, a few drinks, and possibly meeting up the following weekend for more of the same.

Misao wasn't even looking for casual, and she sure hadn't expected to find...well, more than casual. At least she hoped it was more than casual.

Rolling her eyes at Angel Marie's put-upon pout, Misao said, "I've already fed you, you over-sized throw rug. Quit complaining." She paused to add some grated Cheddar to the scrambled eggs, then boogied across the floor to where her plates and silverware were kept, happily caught up in her memories.

_Kaoru had been being... well, her usual self, even in the outfit Misao had so carefully picked out. _

'_Honestly, that girl is never going to get herself a man! I mean, in high school, she did nothing but work. And then in college, she did nothing but work. It's high time that girl got some... hey! Ok, guy checking out Kaoru, this is good; granted, he looks about as interesting as a wet sponge, but, she's gotta start somewhere...'_

"_Go over there!"_ _she had hissed, glaring emphatically yet encouragingly at her friend, "See, this is your problem; you come to these places and then you never make a move, and if you don't get in there and make a move," she continued, her eyes moving past the innocuous-looking blond staring nervously at Kaoru, only paying vague attention to the other assorted men lurking along the club walls._

'_Maybe Sponge-boy will at least be good for a couple of dances; getting Kaoru out on the dance floor so that she's not hiding up here with all of us would be...'_

_Misao's eyes suddenly registered a tall figure in a white coat, leaning against the wall with perfect, casual stillness. _

"_you're never going..." _

_Black hair. Strong, determined jaw. Eyes that were the color of pale seas in winter, that seemed to be looking at the other people in the club with an indifference so complete that it bordered on disdain..._

"_... to... find..." Misao felt her voice trail off as her throat went dry._

'_Wow...' was the only word that her brain could seem to come up with. It was too busy trying to deal with the sudden sensation of everything tilting and ringing like a bell and narrowing to a single point of focus across the crowded room._

Misao grinned happily at her breakfast. She had never really thought that all the clichés from songs and poems had an actual basis in reality; seeing him had proved her wrong.

She wasn't even sure what she had said to her friends before she had abandoned them, making a beeline over to the man in the white coat.

Fortunately, Misao had never had a problem with shyness or hesitation when dealing with other people.

_Even when she had gotten up close to the man, he hadn't shown any real sign of noticing her presence. _

_Taking a deep breath, Misao had put on her most cheerful-yet-sane grin, and started, "Hi! I'm Misao! I noticed that you were standing over here, and I thought I would come over and ask you to dance, because, frankly, you look kind of lonely and well, I can't have that sort of thing going on, especially not here, because I helped design this club and, well, if people aren't having a good time, I always feel kind of guilty about it, you know?'_

_About halfway through her monologue, the man had blinked and looked at her. The shock of direct eye contact had almost derailed her speech. Almost, but not quite..._

_Taking advantage of a passing waiter, Misao made it look as if she was about to be bombarded with mixed drinks and fruit garnishes, and, by a set of complicated maneuvers, managed to end up practically pressed up against her chosen target, close enough to feel something like faint sparks through her palms where they were almost but not quite touching him._

_Looking up at him through her eyelashes, Misao "So... what's your name, or should I just drag you to the dance floor?"_

_Something like humor, or surprise, flickered briefly through ice blue eyes, but it was gone before Misao could identify it exactly. Grinning up at him, Misao reached out and grabbed his arm, latching her own around him and pulling._

_He looked down at her as he disengaged himself from the wall. She was startled by how tall he was, the way that he towered over her own petite form. She led him down the side staircase, the one that she'd designed as a quicker, less obvious way down to the back half of the dance floor, the less crowded part._

"_You do know how to dance, right?" she had asked, as she took his hand and began to move to the beat._

"_Yes," he'd said, his voice deep and rich, a tone she could practically wrap herself up in._

Misao closed her eyes in remembrance of that first dance. He had been... the way that he had moved... she'd never met anybody who seemed to know where she was going to move before she herself knew. There had been a kind of perfect synchronicity to their dance, and, as the song had shifted, she had looked up at him with wide, slightly dazed eyes and said, in a slightly breathless tone that she'd never heard from herself before...

"_You know... it's not fair to dance with a lady like that and not tell her your name..."_

_Again that faint ghost of a smile went through his eyes as he said, "Aoshi. Aoshi Shinomori."_

"_Misao Makimachi. It's... it's very nice to meet you... Aoshi."_

And, feeling greatly daring, she'd stood on tiptoe and planted her lips on his, wrapping her arms around his neck to support herself.

Misao had long ago decided that trying to be shy and demure was a wasted effort that annoyed both herself and those around her. However, she had felt a frisson of nervousness down her spine as she kissed a man who was practically a total stranger, the same nervousness that she had been feeling since she'd made eye contact with him, since she'd even seen him.

There had been a moment when he had stood in utterly shocked stillness, and Misao had had the horrible feeling that she had done something completely wrong, a kind of sinking sensation deep in the pit of her stomach as she wondered if she'd ruined possibilities she was only starting to see...

Then Aoshi's arms had suddenly been around her, and he'd been pulling her so tightly against her that she almost couldn't breath, and he had angled his mouth against hers so that she could taste him, green tea and an undertone like dark chocolate, utterly addictive, and the rest of the world had faded away to nothing, so that there was only the sound of his heartbeat echoing through her and the press of his body against hers.

After a long time, or maybe only a few minutes, he had pulled away from her, sparks in his eyes like fire on snow, and he had smiled as he looked down at her flushed expression, the way that her eyes were wide and her lips slightly parted as she breathed.

"_It's very nice to meet you too... Misao..."_

As she had introduced him to her friends, she had been suffused with a feeling like pink champagne, sweet and fizzy and intoxicating from her head to her toes. Aoshi himself had gone back to what she was starting to realize was his default expression, a kind of arctic stoicism that made her want to drag him back to a dark corner of the dance floor and see what she could do to remove it.

She blamed that feeling for the fact that it took her so long to recognize Kenshin as the boy from their high school Kaoru had most definitely been interested in, in spite of her protests.

Washing the last of the dishes, Misao grinned to herself. Kaoru and Battousai... and _she_ still had setting-up privileges, no matter what Kaoru might say to try to throw her off.

This was going to be perfect, as soon as she could figure out where he lived and convince him to take the Raccoon out on a date. Actually, considering the way he'd been looking at Kaoru, it might not be that hard to persuade him. She just needed to make sure that she and Megumi planned Kaoru's wardrobe for the evening. And picked the restaurant, just to be safe.

The fact that Kaoru had taken off, clearly intending to use their long-established escape route, hadn't bothered her in the least. Especially since she had realized by then that Aoshi and Kenshin knew each other. That meant that she didn't have to necessarily set her plans in motion right away; she could take a little bit of time.

That turned out to be a good thing, since Kenshin politely excused himself and headed to get his jacket shortly after finding out that Kaoru had gone out the window.

Aoshi had raised an eyebrow, slightly, at the conspiratorial grins Megumi, Misao, and Sano had shared once Kenshin had left. However, he didn't say anything until Misao had dragged him back onto the dance floor, leaving Megumi and Sano on their own with the drinks.

Actually, Aoshi didn't say much once they were back on the dance floor either, because she dragged him to a back corner that very few people knew about and pounced on him at the earliest opportunity. Between his lips and his hands, she had completely lost track of time, her own hands running over his chest and back, feeling the way his muscles flexed under her touch, anticipating being able to get him someplace where his shirt wouldn't be in the way.

When the ringing of the cellphone in his pocket broke the spell that they were under, Aoshi had reluctantly pulled back from where he was engaged in memorizing the way the skin of her neck tasted, swallowed hard, taken a deep breath, and answered it.

To his credit, his voice was perfectly steady. Misao was sure she could never have managed that.

"_Shinomori..." Aoshi answered brusquely, then listened intently to whoever was on the other end of the phone " WHAT?... Yes... yes, I'll be right there. Yes; I have everything that I need out in the car already."_

_He flipped the phone shut decisively, and said, "Misao, I..."_

"_Business?" she'd asked, tilting her head._

_Aoshi closed his eyes briefly and then looked at her. "Yes. Something important; it's actually the reason I'm in town at the moment..."_

_Misao's smile was genuine as she tightened her arms momentarily, "Well, if it's important, then you had better get going, hadn't you? But I hope that it's not the only reason you're staying in town..."_

_Brushing his lips against hers as he let go, Aoshi murmured, "No... not anymore."_

_She had written her phone number and her address on a coaster and slipped it into his coat pocket, and told him that he'd better call her after he'd taken care of business._

"_It will be late..." Aoshi said, slightly hesitant._

"_Don't care! Call me anyway!" Misao declared. She didn't want to lose this, didn't really want to let him out of her sight, no matter how important it was. This was a compromise._

"_I have a better idea, Misao. How about I buy you dinner tomorrow? I'll pick you up at seven-thirty; we can catch a movie afterwards if you like..."_

"_Seven-thirty would be perfect... although I probably won't feel like watching a movie afterwards," Misao admitted, just to see if she could get him to blush._

_Instead, he had looked at her with definite sparks in his eyes, pulled her close for one final, burning kiss, and breathed, "Good. Me neither." over her lips as he released her._

_Then he had walked away across the dance floor, and Misao had stared appreciatively after his retreating figure, feeling giddy with happiness and anticipation._

_Mentally going over her wardrobe, she decided that she should really try to go shopping before her date. Not just because she wanted to look stunning, but also because she really felt that Aoshi deserved to see her in something new, something nobody else had seen her in before._

_Besides which, shopping would help the time pass more quickly, because if she had to spend the whole day in her apartment waiting for the clock to strike seven-thirty, Misao was fairly certain her brain was going to explode._

After she had finished breakfast, she washed the dishes, then went to give her wardrobe a thorough once-over before calling Megumi and Kaoru. This was going to take effort, and planning, and caffeine.

* * *

Kaoru was tackled the minute she walked through the door to her family's kitchen. 

Looking down in surprise, she realized that her brother had thrown his arms around her waist and was holding onto her as if she would vanish if he let go.

"Hey! Hey, it's ok," she said, rubbing circles on his back, "I'm ok, Yahiko, really."

'_Kenshin talked to Yahiko last night,'_ she remembered, _'And he said he called him afterwards, so Yahiko knew that I was in trouble...'_

Yahiko finally relaxed and backed up, his eyes suspiciously bright as he looked at his sister.

"I... He.. Kenshin said that you were in trouble, and then he said that you were ok, but... I wanted to help and come with him, but he wouldn't let me..."

Flinching internally at the thought of Yahiko at the factory, where Jineh had been, Kaoru replied in a tone that still managed to be soothing, "No, it... it was good that you weren't there. Kenshin took care of it, and I'm fine, ok?"

"What... who was it?" Yahiko asked, "Kenshin said that it was because of him, that somebody... that they took you..." he trailed off, uncertain.

Exhaling, Kaoru turned and went to pour herself a glass of water.

"Well," she started, "It's kind of complicated... see, somebody... somebody bad... they wanted to make Kenshin angry. And they were looking for a way to do that, so when they saw that Kenshin... was going to give me a ride home from the nightclub, they thought that... well, that we had been there together. And so they, um, assumed some things that weren't true, and they grabbed me so that Kenshin would come after them. And he did, and he stopped them," she paused to beat back a flood of memories of exactly _how_ Kenshin had stopped them, "and. well, they aren't coming back. He took care of it."

Yahiko nodded slowly, and Kaoru wondered how much he was guessing about what she meant by "took care of it."

"So... why did he need a sword? And why was a sword under your bed? And why did it have all those weird paper things on it? And why was it, you know, under your bed?"

'_Rats... I suppose it was too much to hope that Yahiko would have stayed out in the hallway, or that he wouldn't have noticed that Kenshin was retrieving a sword from under my perfectly normal bed...'_

"Um... " She couldn't lie to her brother. Well, she amended, not completely. Not when he already knew as much as he did. "The sword was something I found during high school; and I knew that it was dangerous, so I hid it. And I needed to make it look as little like a sword as possible, so I thought that sticking all that paper on it would work. And we always hide stuff under the bed, Yahiko; you do too, you know. As for why Kenshin needed it... I think it was something that the guy who took me was after, something that he thought was valuable. Like he could trade me for the sword, you know? I think that it was really old."

'_As opposed to being something that anybody could use nowadays, for example... that's all, just a harmless old sword that might be valuable as an antique, and I found it after it was abandoned by gangsters, who later wanted it back.. It's not totally implausible... much more believable than some crazy story about sword-wielding demons...'_

His expression showed that he wasn't satisfied, not completely, but Yahiko nodded. "Ok. And... I mean, you're sure that you're fine? Your arms..." he trailed off.

"Oh, no, they just got a little bit scratched up. Nothing serious. In fact, one of the reasons I came over was to see if you were up for a sparring match, little brother."

"Stop trying to convince me that you're fine, ugly," Yahiko retorted, his normal attitude towards his sister returning now that he was convinced she wasn't hurt. "Besides, I can't spar with you right now; I've got that beginner's class to teach, since Dad's meeting with some guy who's interested in private lessons. You're off the hook until tonight."

Kaoru snorted, "Off the hook, yeah, right! Listen, brat, I can take you any day of the week, and don't you forget it. Tomorrow afternoon: you, me, and a pair of bokkens. You pick the time."

"Three o'clock. Don't be late."

"Fine."

The staring contest was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Yahiko picked it up and said, "Hello? Oh, hi Misao; yeah, she's right here..." before handing the phone to his sister.

"Well, ugly, I'm off to class. Have fun with the Weasel!"

Kaoru looked around for something to throw at him, but couldn't find anything other than the glass she was currently holding. Sighing, she held the phone to her ear and said, "Hi, Misao; what's up?"

"Kaoru! Why are you at home? I mean, at your family's home? I called you on your cell, and you didn't answer; is everything ok?"

'_Well, if you don't count the crazed maniacs trying to kidnap me or, um, trying to keep me in their apartments... sure, everything's fine...'_

"Sorry, Misao; I was just running a super-quick errand over here to get some things that were still in my bedroom, and I must have left my cellphone on the counter at home..."

She fervently hoped that Misao hadn't been trying to call her for an hour already or anything else that could disprove her story. Luck seemed to be with her, since Misao leapt to the next subject with her usual agility, cellphone locations forgotten.

"Listen... do you have anything planned for this afternoon? Cause I have a date, and I need a new dress... and some new lingerie... and possibly really high heels... Anyway, um, Megumi and I are going shopping, and I really, really, really want you to come along, because I really want your opinion, and it would be a chance to come shopping with us and be the one who gets to make all the comments and criticize whatever I pick, you know, to make up for all the other times when we've dragged you shopping.."

"You just don't need the amount of oxygen that normal humans require, do you?" Kaoru remarked once her friend had finally stopped.

"Is that a yes?" Misao demanded, undeterred.

"Yes, you insane, crazy Weasel, I will come shopping with you and Megumi; I will meet you at the mall entrance by that fountain with the scary bronze ducks in half an hour. Or forty-five minutes if you expect me to have eaten first."

"Half an hour, and we'll hit the food court to plot a shopping strategy, ok?"

"Works for me. See you guys then!" Kaoru hung up and headed to her bedroom to find something to wear that wasn't... well, that wasn't soft and comfortable and faintly smelling like Kenshin. She considered taking another shower, just to get rid of any residual traces left by the clothes, but a quick glance at the clock persuaded her that she didn't have time.

She made due with an extra dab of her favorite jasmine perfume behind her ears and on her wrists, breathing in the scent as an attempt to calm herself down. Digging in her closet and dresser, she found a very comfortable old pair of jeans that were still in fairly good shape, and a long-sleeved stretch shirt with a silkscreen print of a dark night sky that covered up the way her arms were bandaged. It was probably a bit dressier than what she would usually wear to the mall, but Kaoru didn't have the time to dig around for anything else.

She really didn't want to get into a conversation with Misao and Megumi about why her arms were both bandaged. _Especially_ Megumi, who would insist on seeing what was under the bandages and knowing the full story. Kaoru wasn't sure she could come up with a medically acceptable lie about where the scratches had come from. And she didn't even want to _think_ about how she could try to explain that bruise mark.

'_I should consider myself lucky he didn't leave teethmarks... '_ Kaoru thought as she finished brushing her hair, and then blushed violently. _'Damn it... I am NOT thinking about this...'_

Grabbing one of her older purses out of the recesses of her closet, Kaoru frowned slightly. Her wallet, of course—well, except for her license and a twenty—was back in her apartment. True, she wasn't planning on shopping, but... considering that she was probably going to be having lunch and coffee with Misao and Megumi, and that she might end up seeing something she liked... She exhaled in annoyance and made a mental note to start keeping mad money stashed in her car.

In the meantime, she supposed she had no choice but to raid the household coffee jar and leave a note, something that gave her a weird high-school flashback feeling that she really didn't need, particularly this morning.

'_Stupid idiot...treating me like I'm some sort of... of... security blanket cuddle toy without a mind of my own he can just... just... keep me and tell me what to do and... and keep me in his apartment and feed me waffles...with real maple syrup...THAT was evil...'

* * *

_

Misao and Megumi were already at the fountain, and Megumi seemed to have acquired a couple of shopping bags even before the other two got there. After Kaoru pointed out that it didn't make sense to haul them around for the rest of the afternoon, Megumi put them into the trunk of her car and the three women headed to the food court for food and strategizing.

"You need to wear a dress," Megumi said, "Something ladylike, Misao."

"Why does she always feel this obsessive need to make everybody else adopt her fashion sense?" Misao asked the universe at large.

Kaoru stifled a giggle. Without much success. "Well, Misao, now you know what it's like for me. Every time. And, for what it's worth, I think I agree. This sounds like a guy who's going to take you out for a nice dinner, and that deserves a nice outfit. You don't have to be stuffy about it, but a dress would be a good thing."

Considering, Misao said, "Hmm... I suppose a dress would be easier to remove than pants and a top, too."

Megumi almost choked on her drink. Kaoru laughed loudly enough that several neighboring tables turned and stared.

"You do have the most interesting ways of picking your wardrobe," Kaoru finally said once she'd calmed down enough to speak clearly. "Um... and are you sure that... I mean... um... you seem to have planned for... "

"Calling in sick all next week. Yup," Misao replied with perfect composure that almost made Megumi choke on the drink she was taking to get over her first bout of choking.

"Ah," Kaoru said, because there really wasn't anything else to say.

"So, Kaoru, when are you going to be the one making embarrassing plans for the weekend?" Megumi inquired "I mean, I've got one, and Misao's got one; isn't it time that you got yourself a man?"

"Yeah, Kaoru; as your friends, we are ready to assist you, in any way we can!"

"Some kind of help is the kind of help we all can do without; in other words, trust me, I neither need nor want your assistance in finding me a man." Kaoru shot back.

'_Now if only they would offer to help me get RID of a man... demon...whatever... THAT would be useful...'_

Once they had finished lunch, they headed off to hit the stores. Since their mission was to find something with class and style, Megumi was in charge of boutique selection, Misao was in charge of preliminary dress selection, and Kaoru was in charge of sarcastic remarks.

It was a role reversal that she was extremely happy with. Although Megumi had such unerring good taste that there really weren't many remarks for Kaoru to make. She contented herself with mocking the outfits on the mannequins, and occasionally making quiet snarky comments about the other customers.

"How's this?" Misao asked, twirling in a black dress with a pattern of white pin dots across a fitted bodice and flaring skirt.

"You need more color," Kaoru observed, "right now you look like you've escaped from Pleasantville... try that rack behind the Brittany Spears wannabe over there..."

"The Pleasantville comment was good," Misao replied, "but you're reaching on the Brittany comparison..."

"I just need practice; usually, I am the target of wardrobe-related sarcasm, and being responsible for it is a new thing for me."

After several hours, they were trying to decide between another store or a coffee break to discuss the possibilities they had already seen.

Kaoru, unsurprisingly, was arguing for coffee, but Misao, who was clearly keeping a close eye on the clock, wanted to hit a few more stores.

"Let me get this straight: _you_ are turning down _coffee_? Who are you and what have you done with my friend?" Kaoru demanded.

"Kaoru! My love for coffee continues unabated, but I also want to make sure that I get the right lingerie to wear under whatever dress I pick out, plus probably some thigh-highs, and that's going to take time too. I say we hold off on coffee until after we have checked out all possibilities, and that way we can discuss and evaluate and then proceed directly to purchasing."

"She's got a good point, Kaoru," Megumi said, "We only have a couple more places that I would classify as "must-see," and after that we can sit down with our list."

"You've been making a list?" Kaoru said, surprised, "Wow... you're very organized about this... OK, as much as it pains me, you are my friends, and worth the sacrifice, and so I can wait for..."

Kaoru's sentence was cut off suddenly as she felt an arm reach around her waist and a pair of lips press against hers firmly in a kiss that was warm and lingering and definitely more than just a friendly greeting.

Then it ended, and as she was still trying to get her bearings, a horribly familiar voice said, "Sorry I'm late, kitten; I still had a couple of things to take care of back at the apartment. I would have told you, but since you left while I was still in the shower, I didn't get the chance. Oh, by the way," Kenshin said as Kaoru stared at him in a kind of mute, horrified fascination. "You left your phone. And your wallet."

Numbly, she reached out her hand to take them and put them into her purse. Realizing that Kenshin's arm was still very definitely around her waist, Kaoru went to elbow him in the ribs before she noticed the expressions on her friends' faces.

Megumi's normally composed expression had been replaced by something close to gaping. And Misao had the gleeful shock of a child who'd suddenly gotten everything they'd ever wanted for Christmas, plus a pony.

'_Oh... fuck...'

* * *

_

Next Chapter: Kaoru thinks back fondly upon her time in that deserted factory.

Special Chronology Note: I just wanted to mention the fact that the past couple of chapters, and the next chapters, are taking place over a fairly short period of time—ie, the chapter where Kaoru dressed up, the club chapter, and the Jineh chapter were all set on a Friday; the previous chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter are on Saturday, and so on. Just so folks don't get confused about how much time is passing within the story and so on.

Author's Note: Well, I am about to move for the summer... dormlike housing and sadly restricted Internet access (but there will still be regular access, never fear!). At any rate, I shall try to get the next chapter posted before I leave. Hopefully. On another note, thank you to Pego for producing yet another fun Kenshin and Kaoru picture for this fic... (link: http/pego5678(dot)deviantart(dot)com/ ). Looking at it, it seems to me to fit very well with the first chapter, with Kaoru looking very bright-eyed and young, and Kenshin looking quite fierce. I know that there are other folks working on pictures for "Frozen Moonlight"—just let me know when you're ready for me to put up the links, and I shall! It is so cool to see what you're coming up with, and to know that you find the story inspiring.

In this chapter I don't seem to quote anything. How odd. Although perhaps I just missed something.

Reviewer Responses: This section brought to you by Demonic Waffles, available soon at a store near you! Several people wondered how Kaoru had her car keys with her, since she went to the club in an outfit without pockets and didn't carry her purse. The way that I pictured it, Kaoru took her driver's license (for ID purposes) and the twenty dollars for emergencies and stuck them into her top. Everybody in the group would have kept a running tab at the bar, so she wouldn't have needed that much cash (what, you're reading about Sano going out to a bar and are surprised that a tab is being run:-) ). Since Misao helped design it, she clearly knows the owner well enough—and since Sano is a fellow barkeep and former bouncer, he doubtless knows the owner as well, so some kind of running tab arrangement would be ok. Anyway, before I get too rambly: Kaoru left her housekey hidden outside her apartment, and when she fled, she used the spare key she had hidden under her car in one of those little key-hiding boxes that are absolutely life-saving if you lock yourself out of your car with the engine and headlights running when you go to quickly drop a video into the return drop box one rainy night. To pick a completely random and purely hypothetical example which has never happened to me.

And, kudos to everybody who guessed that Aoshi suggested that Kenshin talk to Saitoh about keeping an eye on Kaoru during the schoolday (in his guise as Mr. Fujita, Harmless Supervising Teacher)! (n.b.: Sincere thanks to Jewelle2, who pointed out that originally I wrote "Sano" there instead of Saitoh, a mistake for which neither one of them would thank me...)

Wow, so many reviews! Whee! Thank you to everybody who reviews (and thanks also to readers in general); it makes me so happy! Glad that peopled the make-out session in Kenshin's kitchen, and also that people appreciated Boxers! Kenshin as well as Soapsuds! Kenshin. And, I'm also glad that people liked Kenshin's last sentence...

And now, some quick individual responses:

AkaiNeko-Chan: Thank you again so much for the wonderful fanart! I didn't put a link in yet because I wasn't sure if you had finished them yet and didn't know if you wanted folks to see them yet. They continue to get great, though, and I look forward to posting the link when you give the green light.

Anne Novemberly: Oh, ok. I was just worried there was a glitch. I actually tried the arm thing as well when writing the chapter... it is possible to stand up, and Kaoru does on the second try, but her first thought is to get over to the wall and either use it as leverage or find something to cut the ropes. I shall keep that in mind about the italics... it's often a bit tricky with QuickEdit when you want to emphasize something _inside_ the italics. Loreena McKennit does indeed do a beautiful version of "The Highwayman," as well as several other poems. In terms of why Kaoru kept the sword where she did when she knew it was dangerous... she wanted it where she could protect it, where she would know if something happened to it. I mean, if she had tossed it into the river or buried it or something, who knows who could have found it, and what they would have done with it. Kamiya Kasshin style is about protecting people, and Kaoru decided that the best way to protect was to keep an eye on it personally, with hiding help from her grandfather. Glad that you liked the fight and curse!

Apathetic Empath2: Thank you! So glad that you like it and thank you for the compliments. I am really enjoying writing this story, which makes it easy to pay attention to details. I suspect that Kenshin also found that kiss highly encouraging... although he Did Not Approve of the fleeing...

Black Witch41: Yes.. just a tad paranoid. But not without reason...

Cobaltsky: Well.. I doubt that the end of this chapter made Kaoru want to kill him any LESS than she did before.. fortunately, as you say, Kenshin is older and wiser now and is on the lookout for that sort of thing.

cocovanilla: What Kenshin has planned? Hmm...

Dea-chan: I'll try to be more specific about references when I get to the next chapter in which I quote other stuff. It may just be that I reference things in weird ways...

Fantasy Angel Victoria: Thank you! I don't know if Kaoru would appreciate fainting more often and waking up in Kenshin's bed, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

Grimnoire: Thank you so much for commenting on Kaoru's three-dimensional character; it's important to me to write people that way.

Indygodusk: Hmm.. the image of Soapsuds! Kenshin having to wrestle Kaoru back into the apartment almost makes me wish I'd written it that way... Hee.

Iridescent Twilight: Had not thought about giving him an earring.. but maybe for the Halloween party he could wear one as part of his costume... And in terms of payback... (grins)...

Jade Lightening Bolt: Kaoru's mom died when she was younger (there's a brief reference to it in Chap. 1). Her dad is still alive and active and so on! I'll keep the soapsuds idea in mind for a later chapter...

Kalasin: Well, some friends of mind suggested that Kenshin was probably singing Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher"... or possibly Queen's "Princes of the Universe," from the "Highlander" soundtrack...

Linay: Yay! You've started "Complete Me"! Whee! Anyway... Hmm.. well, we didn't get to see much of the actual "chase" from Kenshin's POV.. just Kaoru attempting to hide out at the mall... which doesn't seem to have worked.

Liz/Ookami-Hitomi: That does sound horribly annoying, having to switch like that. Many sympathies! Hope that this chapter alleviated the stress a little bit. And, glad that you like the two sides of Kenshin.

Nekotsuki: Thank you! Of course, the side effect is that I now have a wicked craving for homemade waffles...

Nishasha: So glad that you like the humor, and that you find Kaoru "Aw!"-worthy.

Omasuoniwabanshu: Yup, "42" was a "Hitchhiker's" reference—that and the "new meaning of the word safe" (what Arthur semi-snarks to Ford when Ford tells him that a) they're safe and b) they're in one of the Vogon ships). So.. were your suspicions about who Aoshi suggested correct?

Pinay Tiger: Good luck with finals and graduation and so on! So glad that you liked the bandage-and-kiss scene; fanart is always welcome!

Sally: Semi-colons are tremendously useful; they provide more of a pause than commas, and help my sentences not to run on forever. Strunk and White is indeed a great grammar reference!

tesuka-chan: Yes.. yes, Kaoru does tend to ramble. I'm not even really sure why, but there you go. Thank you so much for your compliments!

Triste1: Eek! I shall add that to the list of curses... although I feel compelled to point out that the peanut butter might not mix well with the squirrels...


	19. All's Fair In

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Nineteen: All's Fair In...

* * *

"Ki... kitten?" Misao finally managed, staring at Kaoru.

"Mmm..." Kenshin said, wrapping his arm more tightly around Kaoru's waist and planting a light kiss on her temple. "She purrs in her sleep," he explained with a wink at the other two women that had Kaoru wishing the floor would swallow her up right that minute.

"So, can I buy you ladies a cup of coffee?" Kenshin continued cheerfully, his expression utterly open and friendly, a twinkle in his violet eyes. "Kaoru's told me about your power-shopping trips, and it sounds like some caffeine would be a welcome break right about now."

"Coffee would be great!" Misao chirped, her earlier objections forgotten.

"But... Misao... you wanted... shopping, and..." Kaoru said, her thoughts scattering as she tried to come to terms with her situation.

'_Kenshin is here. And talking to my friends. About us. Except there is no "us," he's just making it sound like there is, with the greeting and the. .the kissing and the.. the.. statements and explanations and.. and the hand around my waist... Which is now... in my back pocket oh dear Lord just kill me now...' _

"Do you just want to go to the food court or is there a cafe here you prefer?" Kenshin asked, apparently entirely unconcerned with the fact that Kaoru had gone completely still the minute she'd felt him move his hand.

Megumi immediately said, "Well, there's a little cafe right next to the food court. Kaoru says it's the best coffee in the mall, and even reasonably decent coffee for a non-mall situation, isn't that right Kaoru?"

"Um.. er.. yes?" Kaoru managed, feeling like the situation had slipped completely out of her control.

'_I am being groped. I am standing here in the mall, in public, with my overly nosy friends, and I am being groped. How exactly can I be expected to think about coffee or clothes or anything else when I am standing here and there's a demon who's got his hand on my...'_

"Well, I'm sure that you still have shopping that you want to get done, so why don't we go and take care of your caffeine and sugar-related needs first?"

And with that, Kenshin turned to lead the way. Kaoru, in the part of her brain that was still taking note of her surroundings, was positive that even if Kenshin's right hand didn't know what his left hand was doing, her friends certainly did.

To anybody watching, his arm was casually draped around her, his entire posture relaxed. However, when Kaoru attempted to step away, to put some distance between them, it was like trying to break iron, and the only result was that he pulled her closer, leaned in, and whispered, "Ah-ah, kitten, I don't think so. You're staying put this time." And then, before he pulled back, she felt a brief nip at her earlobe that made her stifle a surprised squeak. The situation was bad enough; she refused to let her friends hear her squeak.

The walk to the food court had never seemed so long. Kenshin refused to adjust his position until they were walking through the cafe door, and even then, his arm remained carefully placed so that she couldn't easily back away. He pulled her chair out for her, then guided her to sit down by putting his arm across her shoulder again. Nobody but Kaoru could really notice that he was pushing her into the chair more firmly than politeness really called for. Then he turned to the women, grinning in Kaoru's direction and saying, "One grande latte machiatto with amaretto syrup, skim milk; Misao, Megumi, what would you like?"

Kaoru barely heard what her friends requested. _'He.. he.. how does he know what I drink.. .and, more importantly, is there any way that I can persuade the two nosiest women this side of the Rockies that, really, Kenshin is just an old friend, nothing special, who is trying to work through a tragic mental condition that involves groping women with whom he has no romantic connection whatsoever...'_

"Oh, my GOD, Kaoruwhydidn'tyoutellmeyouwereseeingBattousai, er, Kenshin!" Misao squealed in a rush the minute Kenshin had headed over to the counter to place their orders.

"I have to admit, Kaoru, Sano and I were hoping that you and Kenshin would end up together, but I'm impressed that you managed it this quickly!" Megumi added.

' _So... that would be a "no" on being able to persuade them... wait.. Sano and Megumi were hoping WHAT?'_

"I.. um.. we... that is, Kenshin... "

Kaoru was at a complete loss. She obviously couldn't tell her friends the truth, because that would involve words like "demon" and "kidnapped" and "dismemberment," which didn't seem like a good idea. And she obviously couldn't tell her friends that she and Kenshin weren't together, because, after Kenshin's performance, they would probably find that even less believable than anything involving demons.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Misao and Megumi were more than willing to pick up the conversational slack.

Misao turned to Megumi and said, "YOU were going to set them up? Hey, Kaoru, I thought that _I_ was the one you had given setting-up privileges to!"

"Who needs privileges? Sano wanted to set the two of them up on a blind date last month, but Kenshin had to be out of town, and it never quite worked out."

The image of being set up on a blind date and arriving to discover that it was _Battousai_ made Kaoru clench her hands into fists and blink sharply.

"_NOBODY_ is setting me up with _anybody_!" Kaoru declared through clenched teeth. "I am _not_ getting dragged into your ridiculous schemes to find me..."

"Well, of course not, now that you've got Kenshin," Megumi said in a perfectly reasonable tone.

"Yeah, no wonder you said you didn't need our help finding a man," Misao giggled.

'_I wonder if there's a way that I can distract them and make a break for it... if only there was a display of amazing shoes at unbelievable sale prices over there instead of a children's store... although maybe the children's store would work for Megumi; hasn't she been making biological clock noises when she thinks Sano isn't...'_

She knew he was behind her again before he even set her drink down in front of her with a flourish. Somehow, in addition to their coffees, Kenshin was managing to carry a plate of double-chocolate brownies.

'_Caffeine AND chocolate? Does he realize what happens to Misao when she gets caffeine and chocolate at the same time? Well, Kaoru, probably he does, because clearly he is trying his best to torture you, and what could possibly be worse than a hyperactive weasel who thinks that her best friend has finally found a man without telling her all the juicy details first..._

_I wonder if I could sneak back to that abandoned factory again...'_

Kenshin moved his chair so that it was almost touching Kaoru's, and even managed to take a sip of his espresso before the questions began.

"So, Kenshin, how long have you and Kaoru been involved?" Misao asked, her blue-green eyes alight.

Kenshin flashed a dazzling smile and said, "Well, we met back in high school, actually, but then I lost track of her until recently..."

Before he could continue, Misao jumped back in and declared, "Oh, I know; I remember, the two of you were always looking at each other; I told Kaoru that you kept noticing her, but of course she said that you didn't."

Kenshin looked momentarily surprised, got his expression back under control, then remembered that surprise was a perfectly acceptable emotion under the circumstances and so went back to it. "You went to New East Capitol? I didn't know that. So..." he continued, looking slowly back to where Kaoru was trying to work out if she could just die by choking on a brownie and end her misery right here, "Kaoru was looking at me back in high school, was she?"

The glare that she shot him over her coffee was mutinous and hostile. Fortunately, her friend and cousin were too engrossed in coming up with embarrassing questions to notice it.

"I wish that I'd known you were interested in me back then, kitten; it could have saved an awful lot of time."

"Oh, back in high school Misao was always seeing dramatic romances between people who were totally unsuited to each other," Kaoru responded with a sweetly acidic tone, "Besides which, you were too.. _involved_ with all those perfect blonde cheerleaders to notice anybody else. Which was the one who used to like plastering herself all over you in the library again?"

Maybe if she could just make Megumi and Misao believe that Kenshin was prone to sleeping around, she could recruit them as allies in her quest to get rid of him. Or at least help her with the part where he stopped trying to pretend to be her boyfriend.

To his great credit, Kenshin didn't even tighten his hand around his espresso cup as he raised it to take another sip.

"I don't actually remember that incident... and, you know, I might have known a bunch of the cheerleading squad, but I never dated any of them. They were just a group of kids that I hung out with."

"Until they all ended up dead. Well, except for you; such a shame...The entire incident, really tragic," Kaoru lamented.

"So did your parents send you someplace else after that?" Misao leapt back in, "I mean, I know Kaoru's dad sent her to a school way across town, and my folks did the same thing, but some kids ended up in a different state. It's such a shame that you didn't wind up at the same school, Kenshin; then you wouldn't have had to spend so many years looking for her!" She sighed slightly as she contemplated her second brownie, clearly envisioning years of heart-wrenching separation between two potential lovers.

"It's a shame that you had to be out of town when we wanted to set the two of you up," Megumi observed, "The two of you could have seen each other again so much sooner."

Kenshin nodded. "If I'd known, I would have tried to re-arrange my schedule, but Sano never did say exactly who he wanted to set me up with. And, honestly,"-- and how he managed to make himself blush slightly as he said it, Kaoru had no idea—"I really didn't want to be set up with just anybody. Meeting Kaoru... I mean... well, sometimes it just hits you, right here," Kenshin mimed a gesture towards his heart that had her gritting her teeth and wishing he was holding something sharp.

"OOO! Like Cupid's arrow!" Misao said, then blushed as she remembered the previous night at the club.

"Well, you're lucky," Megumi remarked as she put her mug back down, "Sano and I spent years dancing around each other and fighting before we actually got together. Then after we got together we spent years fighting and dancing around each other.. but now that we've finally gotten everything settled, it's been great. "

Eager to turn the conversation to a different topic, Kaoru valiantly leapt in with, "So, does that mean that we're finally going to be hearing wedding bells?"

"Well, sounds like _somebody_ is eager to catch that bouquet," Megumi said, her eyes twinkling slyly.

'_Rats.. I was sure that that would work...'_ Kaoru groused to herself. It seemed that the idea of her and Kenshin as a couple was going to remain the number-one topic of conversation, barring alien invasion or spontaneous combustion.

Misao giggled at Megumi's statement and mischievously added, "Or do you just want Kenshin to catch that garter?"

"Misao!" Megumi scolded, "You're going to traumatize the poor man! You'll have to excuse Misao," she said, turning to Kenshin. "She gets this way with caffeine. Or chocolate. Or sugar. Or... well, actually, Misao just gets this way without any help."

"What? I'm just happy! I mean, I was starting to worry that Kaoru was going to be a virgin forever!"

This time Kaoru was sure she was going to choke to death on her coffee. At least, that's what she was aiming for.

'_Misao just.. and in front of... out loud and...'_

Her scattered thoughts coalesced into one overriding question.

'_What could I possibly have done, in what previous existence, to deserve this?'_

She didn't dare to look at Kenshin's face, but she could see the way his long fingers momentarily tightened around his cup before he seemed to forcibly relax them. Kaoru really, really didn't want to know what had run through his mind when he'd heard Misao's declaration. Unless it was something along the lines of, "Good heavens! A virgin! I was not expecting that, and must now clearly alter my plans and seek somebody else to back up against a doorframe!"

In sheer desperation and panic, Kaoru did the only thing she could think of.

"Misao! Shouldn't we get back to shopping; I mean, if you wanted to get everything taken care of before your, um, date."

As she said it, she leapt up from her chair, grabbing her purse. After a slightly puzzled glance at her watch, Misao concurred.

"Do I need to take the cups back up to the counter, or do they take care of that?" Kenshin asked as he stood up.

Megumi smiled and answered, "No, you don't need to do anything. They'll bus the table after we've left."

Kaoru, who could tell that Kenshin's offer had just won him more points with her friends, glared at him from under her bangs when she was sure the other two couldn't see her. Kenshin just smiled back at her, violet-eyed and completely unphased.

"It was lovely to see you two again, ladies; I hope that the rest of your shopping is a success!" he said smoothly.

"Oh, would you like to come along; you know, provide a male opinion on some of the dresses?" Misao said eagerly. Kaoru had to give her credit; she actually made it sound like she was asking Kenshin along for his opinion on dresses, and not because she was still thinking of ways to interrogate him.

"Welllll..." Kenshin said, with every appearance of careful consideration, "If you don't mind, I would be honored to help out!"

His hand was intertwined with Kaoru's before she could take more than half a step away from him, and, as Megumi pulled her list of stores from her purse, he brought it up and brushed his lips lightly across Kaoru's knuckles, a gesture of casual intimacy that made her want to make a fist and try to give him a black eye.

"Besides which," he continued smoothly, "maybe we can find something for you to wear next weekend, kitten."

"Oh, I forgot; there's a tournament next weekend; I'm going to be completely swamped. The whole time. Plus work. Lots and lots of work. That time of the semester, you know," Kaoru babbled emphatically.

"Oh.. that's too bad." Kenshin sounded sad, and Kaoru wondered if it said bad things about her as a moral person that that made part of her jump up and down and cheer in victory.

"If you're going to be working all weekend, I'll just come over and cook for us instead. You enjoyed the waffles for breakfast this morning, right?"

Apparently the answer to her question was not only 'Yes, it does," but universal karmic retribution was getting faster and faster. And developing a truly evil sense of humor.

About five minutes into the next boutique visit, Kaoru realized that her supposed status as a woman with a shiny new boyfriend meant that Megumi's spider senses were fully activated and scanning the racks for things that would fit _her_ as well as Misao. No sooner had Misao been dispatched to the dressing rooms than Kaoru found several dresses dumped into her arms and her cousin was forcefully shoving her after their friend.

"Try these on!" Megumi hissed under her breath, "If you'd _told_ me that you had a boyfriend, I could have found something for you earlier, but I think that these will work well. You can thank me later. _And_ we are going shopping sometime next week after you get off work."

Kaoru took the dressing room next to Misao and looked at what Megumi had picked out for her. There were two variations on the little black dress, one of which Kaoru discarded immediately based on the ruffles. The second was.. well, even Kaoru thought that it was a bit plain.

'_I suppose that this is what I get for having a reputation as a boring dresser: boring dresses...'_

The third was a dark blue dress with subtle silver threads woven into it that Kaoru appreciated; she also liked the long sleeves and the mandarin-style collar.

'_Hmm... now, I wonder why that could be.. I mean, what possible reason could I have at the moment for preferring clothing that makes me look like a nun on vacation in Amish country...'_

Megumi's final choice was an intense crimson colored satin, the heavy fabric shimmering slightly in the light. The skirt was ankle-length, falling gracefully from a bias-cut bodice that emphasized the slenderness of her waist and the way that her hips flared. Actually, Kaoru was fairly certain that the way the skirt was cut made it flare slightly more than her hips, but she had to admire the effect. The straps were thicker at her shoulder and narrowed down to points where they met the rest of the dress. The effect, Kaoru decided, was supposed to be reminiscent of evening dresses from movies in the 1930s, elegant and civilized.

It would even have worked if it hadn't been for her bandages. Squinting, she tried to pretend that she was wearing long gloves and decided that overall, it was by far the best of the lot, that she loved the fabric, and that the lines of the dress were indeed both civilized and elegant. She felt like she should be holding a cocktail, or getting ready to dance around a ballroom or across the furniture.

'_Now if only Megumi would stop picking dresses that have these.. these... 'Hey boys, check these out' necklines... I mean, it's not even that low, it's just the angles, I think, but still...it's a bit much... not to mention it would be drafty... looks like we're going with dress number two... if I decide to buy anything, which I really don't have to... especially since... Ye gods!.. I am apparently going shopping with Megumi sometime later this week...'_

Kaoru reached around to grasp the top of the zipper and then gasped as warm fingers brushed over hers and took hold of the zipper tab before she could reach it. Looking up in shock, she saw Kenshin's reflection as he stood behind her, his other hand reaching around her waist to rest on the opposite hip.

"Now _that_ is a very nice dress, kitten," he purred softly against her neck and ear, "Very nice indeed..." he added, his eyes taking in every nuance of her reflection.

"This is the _women's_ dressing room, you unforgivable cretin!" she hissed at him, kicking him in the ankle. Unfortunately, since she'd taken her shoes off to try things on, it really didn't have any effect other then to make him smirk slightly, his amber eyes sparking with wicked humor.

"I know, but how else was I supposed to manage a private conversation with you, hmmm?" His fingers were slowly drawing the zipper down as he spoke, tracing a path along her spine, then across her shoulder blades once the dress had opened enough.

Carefully keeping her voice steady, Kaoru snapped, "Oh, I don't know; use the telephone like a normal person? Or do you only pretend to be normal up to a certain extent? For example, how the _hell_ did you get in here when I _know_ that I locked the door? And how soon can you leave again by the same route, before I figure out a way to skewer you with a hanger? And... s-stop that!"

Her last injunction was slightly breathy, the result of Kenshin turning his attention once more to the nape of her neck, brushing his lips against her skin, flicking his tongue out lightly to taste her. In the mirror, all she could see was the fall of his bangs, until he suddenly drew back long enough for her to see the a brief glint as his fangs caught the light—and since when was he showing fangs again, she thought dazedly—before he returned to nibble lightly across where her neck met her back and shoulder.

Before she could even really figure out how he was making her feel, he had spun her and was leaning over her as she was pressed up against the mirror. It was really instinct rather than any kind of conscious thought that had her bringing up her arms to prevent the front of her dress from slipping. However, Kenshin didn't look down; instead, he raised her chin up slightly with one hand so that she was making eye contact with him.

"You ran," he stated decisively. "After I told you to stay put, because it was safer, you ran. I'm really not very happy about that, kitten."

Tightening her jaw, Kaoru shot back, "You also said that it was safe. And I _never_ said that I was staying; you can't expect to give high-handed orders and have me just obey them. If you can't give me a reason beyond "because I said so," then why on earth..."

Kenshin's arms had tightened around her as his mouth came down on hers before she finished her sentence. Her hands were trapped between them, and she could do nothing but fist one hand in his shirt as she felt his hands running up and down her back, warm against her skin. Then he pulled back slightly, catching her lower lip and releasing it only reluctantly before kissing along the line of her throat, sucking lightly at the pulse-point in her neck, soothing it with his tongue. Kaoru bit her lip to stifle the noises threatening to bubble up out of her throat as Kenshin nibbled a path along her collarbone in a way that made her knees threaten to buckle under her. Then, his own breathing slightly heavy, he rested his forehead against her shoulder, the fall of his hair cool against her skin.

Then he raised his head again and looked at her with eyes the color of old gold in the moonlight.

"Don't run from me, Kaoru. Don't ever run from me."

And with that, as she struggled to find words to respond, he turned and, quiet as a troop of cats, unlocked the door and slipped out before carefully closing it behind him.

From the lack of shrieks or commentary, Kaoru assumed he'd managed to leave without anybody seeing him. For once, she was glad that he had the ability to move like a shadow.

It took a full thirty second for her to get her breathing back under control and remind her knees how they were supposed to work.

It took only five additional seconds for her to remember that she was really, really peeved with Kenshin.

'_That. Is. It!'_ Kaoru thought with determination _'How dare he come in here and.. of all the arrogant... he has his sword back, and he still seems to enjoy bothering me, and I don't understand what his problem is, or what kind of twisted demonic petty revenge scheme he has in mind for high school... well, I mean, I suppose that killing him wasn't exactly 'petty'. ..except it doesn't seem to have bothered him, so there's no reason for him to suddenly decide to torment me...'_

As she got dressed again, her temper still seething, Kaoru took several deep breaths so that she wouldn't be greeting her friends with an expression that could cut glass.

'_Damn it... I would leave town, except then he could get to my friends.. I don't even know what I can do to stop him, now that he has his sword back.. and why does he keep.. .I mean, there's no reason for him to have come in here and done that, unless he wants to keep me around for something, which I'm sure can't be good...'_

'_What am I going to do now? What can I possibly do?'_

Misao was already waiting for her when she came out of the dressing room, her arms full of a dark green fabric. Kaoru could see a hint of black tulle underskirt, and intricate tracings of beadwork on the bodice.

'Oh, Kaoru, there you are; Kenshin had to go, but he said to tell you that he'll see you later on, ok?"

"Go?" Kaoru echoed, her brain caught between rejoicing that she was no longer going to have to face the dangerous mixture of Kenshin plus her friends and worrying what he could be up to now that she couldn't see exactly what he was up to.

"Got a phone call," Misao explained, turning to look at a display of earrings, "Didn't seem happy about it; sounded like he was having trouble getting a word in edge-wise, and he got the funniest little wrinkle between his eyes... anyways, once he'd hung up, he said that, unfortunately, it was important, and that he had to go... Do you really think that this is the best of the dresses, Megumi? Kaoru, you can have an opinion too, but you know that I'm not really going to listen..."

"That dress is a great color for you, Misao" Megumi enthused, "It's going to make your eyes look fantastic... what do you have for eye make-up; do we need to stop by Sephora? Kaoru, which of those dresses are you going to get? I think that Kenshin would really like that red one.."

"NO!" Kaoru yelped, startled out of trying to decide if the beadwork on Misao's dress was supposed to represent vines or a scroll pattern. "I mean, um, I didn't really like any of them enough to get one today... the blue one was nice and covering..um... comfortable... I could really picture wearing that dress _all_ night. But I'm going to wait and think about it. There's no rush; I don't have any plans for anything where I would, you know, _need_ a new dress."

"Kaoru, I have seen your wardrobe, and, trust me, you and Kenshin both deserve that you buy yourself new clothes. You'll thank me for it next weekend." Megumi countered.

"I doubt that," Kaoru muttered under her breath, wondering if she could persuade her father to hold some kind of emergency last-minute tournament that weekend, possibly with an early Halloween theme. She would have considered asking Mr. Fujita to give everybody a surprise exam, but decided that he would enjoy it far too much. Besides which, she felt at least a little protective of her kid brother, even in school

Fortunately, since Misao's date was that same evening and any hypothetical events for Kaoru weren't until the following weekend, Megumi let the red dress stay on the rack where Kaoru had put it during her rapid exit from the dressing rooms. However, the way that her cousin ran her hands down the fabric one last time before they all left to head out and search for the perfect eyeshadow and mascara for Misao to wear.

'_Well, if I'm lucky, Megumi will decide that that's a perfect dress for her to wear.. which it is, really; much better for her than for me. Elegant and I aren't always on speaking terms...although I would love a chance to wear that color...'_

Kaoru found it hard to pay complete attention to Megumi and Misao's discussion of whether Mildew and Oil Slick would work well together or if Misao would end up looking like a beetle, since she was half-expecting Kenshin to pop out from behind the blush display.

Pulling herself together, she said, "Hey, Misao—try this one! It's called Stalker; that has a certain ring to it."

"I resent that remark!" Misao grinned back, "I'll have you know that I did _not_ stalk Aoshi. It doesn't count as stalking if it takes less than half an hour."

"Will the two of you _please_ be serious?" Megumi implored. "This is important, people! Alright, Misao, I'm getting you some aubergine mascara—you know, that purpley-eggplanty color—because that will bring out the green in your eyes—and then I'm thinking we need to do nice smokey eyes for you, with maybe a little lighter purple, maybe a liner with some glitter in it... not too much, though."

"I know, I know," Misao said, "You're just never going to let me forget Spring Formal senior year, are you?"

"Not as long as I have the pictures," Megumi said serenely, "I keep them just in case the power goes out and we need a light source."

"Just look upon this as karmic retribution for the blue stripes in my hair," Kaoru piped up, fidgeting with bottle of lime green nail polish.

Sighing, Misao let Megumi pick up the products that they needed and then head to the register.

After they'd gotten the make-up, Misao frantically looked at her watch and declared that she absolutely, positively, _had_ to make an emergency stop to buy new lingerie.

"You guys have to come with me; I need your opinions on things! Megumi, you helped pick the dress, what do you think will go with it?" And with that, the petite girl latched onto Megumi's arm and started heading for the stores, talking and gesticulating rapidly.

Kaoru, who after the afternoon's encounter and Misao and Megumi's shiny new assumptions about her love life, absolutely, positively did _not_ want to be anywhere _near_ a lingerie store with either of them, babbled an excuse about needing to get home and correct papers and practice before going to bed. She wasn't sure if it sounded plausible, but fortunately, Misao had gone into full date-related-panic, and Megumi was too focused on calming a panicking weasel to notice Kaoru's determined escape.

As she exited the mall, Kaoru spared a thought for her friend. She hoped that Misao's date went well...

... and for once, she didn't mean that she hoped it was the date who didn't come back traumatized.

* * *

Next Chapter: Aoshi. Misao. Date. 'Nuff said.

Author's Note: Well, I'm not going to have e-mail access over the weekend, so I figured that I should get this up pre-move.. then my e-mail here spazzed out, so I have super-limited connectivity. Argh. I would like to apologize in advance for any typos and or grammatical errors which are the result of proofreading late at night the night before a move. If they are bothersome enough, I'll correct and re-post. And, the fabulous Akai-Chan has posted a wonderful picture of Kaoru pretending to be asleep on Kenshin's couch-- great colors, and I love the way she did Kaoru's hair!. It's at http/akaineko-chan(dot)deviantart(dot)comEnjoy!

In this chapter I don't own: Urban Decay's Stalker (intense lilac with silver glitter), Oil Slick (black with rainbow glitter), or Mildew (shimmery metallic green). But I love the names.

Reviewer Responses: Due to the lack of a good Internet connection at the moment, and general moving and packing and attempting to bend the laws of physics just enough to fit all of my stuff into bags and luggage, I can't do real reviewer responses right now. I will just say that I continue to love and appreciate the reviews and feedback, and am ridiculously happy that so many people are reading and enjoying the story!


	20. Angels Dining at the Ritz

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher. NOTE: While I have tried to keep this chapter PG-13, I'm not sure that it worked. Just so that everybody knows.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty: Angels Dining at the Ritz

* * *

After Megumi had dragged Angel Marie out to the car, with lots of muttering under her breath about idiot dogs, stupid roosters who promised to look after said idiot dogs, and weasels who blackmailed stupid roosters into making that kind of promise in the first place, Misao was finally alone in her apartment.

'_Calming breaths, calming breaths...'_ she repeated to herself as she walked back and forth on the carpet in her living room. _'All of the clutter is put away... or at least well-hidden... the fridge is both cleaned and stocked... the dog is bothering Sano until I come and pick him up... so, nothing to do but wait.'_

She wasn't really nervous that Aoshi wouldn't show up, not after the way that he'd kissed her at the club. Well, she was slightly nervous about the possibility that Aoshi might call and say that he couldn't make it due to business, but she told herself that that was a reasonable thing to be nervous about, not at all obsessive, since he'd had to leave because of business once before.

Which, at this point, made it a hundred percent of the times they'd been together that he'd had to leave because of business.

But Misao wasn't going to think about that. Really, she wasn't. She was also not going to pace, hyperventilate, or make a beeline for her secret stash of chocolate. Because Megumi had just spent a really long time making sure that Misao's lipstick was perfect, along with the rest of her make-up, and, even though it was supposed to be that new kind of lipstick that stayed put no matter what, she really didn't want to risk messing it up before Aoshi had even gotten the chance to see her, and...

'_CALMING breaths!'_ Misao repeated to herself, fidgeting slightly with the cap sleeves of her dress to make sure that the neckline was behaving itself. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been this nervous before a first date. Or a second date. Or even a third date.

Fortunately, before she had to remind herself that she was also not going to bite her nails, fidget with her hair, or attempt to re-alphabetize her spice cabinet, the doorbell rang. Misao pressed the intercom button and said, "Yes?"

Aoshi's deep voice managed to resonate in spite of the static as he said, "Misao? Are you ready to go?"

"You bet!" she practically sang, "I'll be right down, ok?" Grabbing her purse and slipping her coat and shoes on, Misao headed for the elevator.

Aoshi looked... well, he was still wearing that white trenchcoat, but underneath he had changed into a dark suit and tie combination that made Misao's heart flutter briefly against her ribs.

'_Calming breaths, and NO staring!'_ she told herself firmly as Aoshi put his arm almost around her shoulder to guide her back to where his car was parked. Misao admired the sleek lines of it, the way that the black paint reflected the streetlights. It was a car that exuded good taste and power, and she thought that it was a perfect match to the man opening the door for her.

"Do you like Italian?" he asked once they were underway, "I made reservations, but I can change them if you'd prefer something else..."

"No, no; I love Italian! That would be great!" Misao replied, grinning and enjoying the soft leather of the seats.

The rest of the drive to the restaurant passed quickly. Aoshi was a very good driver, she noticed; he never seemed to be driving too fast, or moving too quickly. Instead, he was completely calm and unhurried, never uncertain of where he was going.

For someone who didn't live in the city, it was impressive.

The restaurant he took them to was one she didn't know; it was small, full of candlelight and the smells of really good Italian cooking. The walls were painted with colorful murals of Florentine streets, and there were fresh flowers on all the tables and the windowsills. They were shown to their table almost as soon as they walked through the door, an intimate booth towards the back where Misao could have a view of the small fountain up against one wall.

Not that she was planning on spending any time looking at the fountain.

When the waiter brought the menu, Aoshi said something to him in Italian, then turned to Misao and said, "Would you prefer to have the courses served in the traditional Italian fashion, or would you rather follow the American order of things?"

"Oh..." Misao blinked. "I hadn't actually... what would you recommend?"

The look that he gave her across the table almost had her flushing nervously again, but she held his gaze and took advantage of the opportunity to study the way his eyes caught the candlelight.

"I always feel that a meal is more enjoyable if one follows the customs of the country... but that does not mean that we have to do things that way."

"No, no; I've never been here before, so I'll trust your judgment on this," she replied. There was a brief flicker of a smile in Aoshi's eyes as he turned back to the waiter and said something else that Misao assumed was a wine order or comment about how they were going to order. The man nodded and departed.

Misao concentrated on the menu, finally deciding on a spinach risotto for the first course and a marinated grilled salmon with fresh vegetables of the day as the second course.

After a few minutes, the waiter returned with a bottle of wine whose label Misao didn't recognize and a plate of antipasti. Aoshi tasted the wine, nodded approvingly, and then they gave their orders.

"So, are you enjoying your stay here?" she asked Aoshi as he filled their glasses.

"Yes, actually; it's been quite a while since I've been here... it's nice to be back and see what's changed, what's stayed the same..."

"Oh, that reminds me; did your business last night get taken care of?"

A look that was almost startled passed across Aoshi's face before he said, "Yes... thank you. I'm sorry that I had to leave so suddenly... it was... an important piece of business that we've been trying to take care of completely for a very long time now."

The wine was very, very good, and Misao swirled her first sip around in her mouth appreciatively before she replied. "It's ok, really. I said it was ok last night, and it's still ok. I mean, if you've been working on something for a long time, you have to see it through when you have the chance, right?"

"True."

"Anyway, I'm just glad that you took some time off and went to the club last night. Because otherwise, you wouldn't have been there when I was there, and then we wouldn't have met, probably, although I've always thought that when you're _supposed_ to meet someone, then you definitely... um... I mean, it was nice that... um... hey, stuffed olives!"

Misao wasn't always good at judging the extent to which she was babbling... but she was fairly certain that she was doing it more than normal in the presence of the dark-haired man who was looking at her with those inscrutable, pale blue eyes that seemed to be displaying the faintest spark of humor in their depths.

Fortunately, the arrival of the first course meant that there was no need for conversation for the next several minutes. The risotto was excellent, perfectly cooked and seasoned. Misao closed her eyes and sighed rapturously, missing the expression that crossed Aoshi's face at her actions.

"So... Misao... what do you do?" he finally asked.

"I'm an architect! With a side in interior design. Well, I mean, I'm finishing my Master's Degree, and doing an internship, for Nenji Kashiwazaki and Co. It's great! I mean, I'm working on a library right now, they've got a government grant to try to draw in more kids and teens, you know? So I'm trying to design a building that's modern, and inviting, and comes across as _interesting_, not some boring old brick box with horrible lighting and those awful old wooden shelves, the kind that they always have in movies where they get knocked over and squish people. Oh, and lots of computers and Internet stuff. Although we're having a big fight right now about blocking software; the government types _really_ get nervous if they think for a minute that anybody could ever access porn on a library computer, you know?"

"Mmm. I imagine."

"It makes you wonder if they've ever _read_ some of the classics that are in the library. I mean, hello, there are things in Chaucer, and Shakespeare, not to even _mention_ D.H. Lawrence, who I personally have never liked, but I guess that some people do. Right now the blueprints have a really big skylight in the middle of the ceiling, and then an opening in the floors, kind of an atrium, with this whole space for couches and some tables on the ground floor, right underneath... Sano said that it is kind of like the plans I made for Killer Bluez—you know, the club last night?—and keeps teasing me about designing nothing but buildings with holes in the middle, but I keep telling him that first of all, Bluez was built around a pre-existing, multi-level factory plan, and second, if you want to create a comfortable environment for people to come in and spend time and read instead of staying home all day and watching TV, you _have_ to have an atmosphere with a lot of light in it."

"That makes sense."

As the second course arrived, Misao realized that she had been monopolizing the conversation. Well, she often monopolized the conversation, but she usually didn't realize it. Or get bothered by it.

"So... um... what do you do?" she asked, poking a piece of zucchini with her fork.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she realized that she'd interrupted Aoshi just as he was taking a bite of steak. Before she could open her mouth to apologize or drop her fork to whap herself on the head, he managed to chew and swallow in a way that looked entirely calm and unhurried.

"Mostly I do free-lance consulting work," Aoshi said, "And some trouble-shooting."

"Family business?" Misao offered, remembering what Aoshi had said at the club the previous night.

He blinked.

"Yes... that is, the company originally started out as a small family business, and I like to think that it's stayed true to its roots."

"Do you travel a lot? I mean, since you're in town now, but it sounded like it was just for one assignment..." Misao trailed off.

'_Very subtle, Weasel-girl... '_ she chided herself, _'Why don't you just ask him for his entire work schedule and address and phone number and resume and what he wants to name the children...'_

Not seeming to notice her uncharacteristic silence, Aoshi answered, "There's a fair amount of travel, although this particular assignment was a special case. I got called in to help out as a favor to an old friend."

"Oh... so, you, um, won't be staying in town... long?" Misao asked, frowning slightly. She tried very hard not to sound disappointed.

Aoshi's expression was almost a smile as he replied, "Well... this is a shorter trip, but I'm often here for longer periods. It's why I keep an apartment downtown."

She couldn't hide her grin at that piece of information. Although she did try.

The rest of the second course, and the salad, passed in small talk. Which of course meant that Misao spent most of the time talking and Aoshi made occasional remarks. By the time dessert arrived, she had covered her job, her family, her dog, politics, modern architecture and design, the weather, and literature, with a brief digression about kites. She found that she loved watching his hands, the way every movement was precise and graceful. She also found that she was more than slightly obsessed with the way his long bangs fell forward. Her fingers itched to reach up and push them out of the way so that she could see his eyes better.

Over dessert, Misao said, "This is great... I mean, the entire dinner... the risotto, and the thing that they did with the fish, and the salad dressing... It really... um... dressed the salad. And this panna cotta..," she paused to enjoy the last spoonful, "it's amazing. Really."

"I'm glad that you approve," Aoshi answered. "Espresso?"

"No... no," Misao said, "I think that I'm ready to be done with dinner..." She looked directly at him as she said it, and was rewarded by the way his eyes widened slightly and one corner of his mouth quirked up for a moment before his usual calm expression returned.

"Good. Me too," he replied, something in his tone sending an anticipatory shiver down her spine.

As much as part of her wanted to grab him, drag him back to the car, and ask him if he wanted to come back to her place or drive to his, Misao made herself remain calm as Aoshi called to the waiter, asked for the check, and paid the bill, all of his actions unhurried, completely calm.

'_There's a lot to be said for a man who knows how to take his time,'_ she reminded herself, ducking her head to hide her sudden blush.

From Aoshi's raised eyebrow, Misao could tell that her blush hadn't stayed hidden from him.

From the glint in his eyes, she could guess that the reason for it hadn't stayed hidden from him either.

As they exited the restaurant, Aoshi clasped Misao's petite hand in his own, interlacing their fingers. The warmth of their joined hands made her smile and squeeze back. When they reached his car, he opened the passenger door for her and briefly brushed his lips across her knuckles as he released her hand and closed the door.

'_This,'_ Misao thought to herself with a kind of anticipatory conviction as Aoshi began driving, _'has definitely been the most romantic evening of my life, ever, and we haven't even kissed yet... is it too obvious if I just ask him to come up to my apartment for...'_

"Would you like to come up to my apartment for coffee, Misao?" Aoshi asked, his eyes on the road.

She giggled; she couldn't help it. At his raised eyebrow, she managed, "Aoshi... don't you think that that's a little... I mean... we both know... I mean, really, do you honestly expect coffee to play a part in my coming up to see your apartment?"

"You don't take coffee with breakfast?" he asked, complete unperturbed.

Misao blinked. Twice. Then she smiled, a completely incandescent grin that lit up the interior of the car.

"Coffee," she declared authoritatively, "would be absolutely lovely."

In the streetlights, Aoshi's answering expression was both pleased and slightly predatory, and it sent another shiver down Misao's spine, one that seemed to lodge in her stomach and stay there as they continued down the darkened streets.

The building where his apartment was located was new; Misao remembered reading about it in one of her classes, where it had been praised for several innovative features which she honestly couldn't remember anything about at the moment. Aoshi pulled into the parking garage and drove several floors down to a numbered spot in a row near the elevators.

Once again, he was at her door and reaching a hand out to her practically before she'd gotten her seatbelt undone. Aoshi pulled her up easily, surprising her. With a surprised little gasp, she ended up falling against him and then standing, frozen. Her free hand was clenched in his coat, and her nose pressed up against his chest. Misao closed her eyes and basked in the scent of him, green tea and the warmth of sandalwood. Then, with a sudden exhalation, Aoshi's arms were around her and he was leaning down to plant a series of kisses down from where her hair had been twisted into an intricate knot along her temple, his lips brushing lightly against her skin. She tilted her head up to meet him, opening her mouth slightly as their lips met.

The chemistry between them was as powerful as it had been the night before, an instant electricity that had Misao arching against him and reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp. Aoshi made a noise that sounded somewhere between a groan and a growl, and she found herself suddenly lifted up onto the hood of his car and pulled even more tightly against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist in response. The action made Misao's dress hike up slightly, and Aoshi took advantage of it to run his hand up the outside of her leg, making another noise in the back of his throat when he encountered the top of her stocking, his fingers tracing the pattern of the lace.

Misao wasn't sure if she was feeling her heartbeat or his echoing through her chest, but it seemed to be racing almost faster than she could keep track of. She suddenly realized that she had at some point started unbuttoning his shirt, and was running eager fingers across his collarbones.

Then, suddenly, Aoshi went completely still. With infinite caution, he drew back slightly, although his arms almost seemed to tighten. He was resting his forehead against hers, but it seemed to Misao as if he was paying attention to something entirely different.

She listened, but she couldn't hear anything. Everything seemed quiet; even the faint flickering noise of the florescent lighting seemed to have died.

"Ao—?" she started, before he moved with a flash of white and a grip on her that was so tight she couldn't breath for a moment as he carried them both over the hood of the car and then down against it on the other side, just as there was a flash of something close behind them and a horrible grinding noise that ended with a smell Misao identified as transmission fluid and oil.

She blinked as she looked at the car and realized that it now had five long gashes across the hood, deep enough that she could see the innards of the engine.

'_That... what...'_ Misao thought, her hands clenching reflexively in the fabric of Aoshi's trenchcoat, her heart pounding for entirely different reasons than it had been a few minutes ago.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice resonating through her with his proximity.

"I'm fine," she answered quickly, "Are you alright, Aoshi? What's going..."

There was a sound like a shriek of disappointment from somewhere in the darkness, high and piercing. Aoshi made a noise in response that was like a low growl under his breath and Misao was fairly sure that he had sworn.

"Owls..."

"Who?" she blurted, and then, blinking, corrected "Um... sorry... I mean... Aoshi, please, what exactly is out there? "

He didn't answer her right away, and when he did, she got the feeling that he was choosing each of his words carefully.

"Misao... listen to me... I want you to stay hidden, please. This... is going to be dangerous, and I need... I need to know that you're safe."

She looked up at him, sea-colored eyes widening. Aoshi was looking down at her with determination and something that in anybody else would have been close to pleading.

There was another set of shrieks from the darkness, and a shower of sparks as several of the lights were shattered. A car alarm squealed, but only for a moment before it was brutally silenced.

Misao looked at the expression on his face, noting the set of his jaw. She stared deep into Aoshi's eyes, and what she saw there made her own jaw tighten before she nodded once, slowly.

Closing his eyes briefly, Aoshi dropped a quick kiss on her forehead as his arms tightened around her once more.

Then he was gone, leaping over the car in a single fluid motion. There was a flash of silver, and two short swords were suddenly in his hands, his posture fierce as he searched for his targets in the darkness.

'_S... swords? When did he... ok, even if I didn't notice that he was carrying swords over dinner, I really would have noticed it by the time I had my hands on his... unless I was too caught up in what he was... but I think that I would have noticed swords, for Pete's sake...'_

The first figure came out of the darkness with a kind of rapid shamble. Overly-large hands ended in vicious-looking steel claws that clacked together hungrily, and Misao could see enough of its face to feel grateful that it was wearing a mask. It roared and charged, and Aoshi seemed to disappear before he was suddenly on the other side of a monster that gave a single surprised choking sound before it collapsed, scrabbling weakly on the parking garage floor until he came up behind it and gave a final quick stab to its neck.

Even as he finished, two more came lurching out of the darkness, and he spun to face them, swords held at the ready. One of them bared misshapen teeth and swung down, but Aoshi evaded and pivoted, and the arm that had swung at him was on the floor. Then he seemed to blur, to be circling the two monsters which were clearly puzzled, turning in a vain attempt to keep up with his fluid motions.

Misao didn't see when it happened, but suddenly Aoshi had moved from circling to attacking, and both of his opponents fell with a set of six perfect slashes across their chests. Aoshi hadn't even broken a sweat, she noticed. Which was good, because the alert wariness of his posture suggested that the attack wasn't over yet.

'_I think I may have to re-evaluate that "most romantic evening' comment... 'different,'... it definitely wins points for different'_ Misao thought from her position behind the car. _'I've never seen a technique like that at any of the kendo tournaments... but those aren't European-style short swords... kodachi, I think... which presumably he and those... those things already know, which means it's not particularly helpful information... dammit, I want to be able to do something...to not just sit here and watch as...'_

"Aoshi!" she cried out suddenly as several more of the shambling figures advanced from the darkness behind him with glowing eyes.

He turned in an instant and snarled at them, and she felt a sharp shock as she realized that Aoshi was quite literally baring his fangs at his enemies.

'_OK... weirdness quotient just went up... 'cause I KNOW he didn't have THOSE in the restaurant. I've dated guys with piercings, tattoos, pierced tattoos, and some very strange hair coloration choices, but... fangs? That is definitely new... if Rod Sterling steps out from behind some hidden camera, I am not going to be at all surprised. Except that he's dead. Although, considering the rest of recent events...'_

Several more of their attackers were lying on the floor, and Aoshi leapt down on another, twin swords flashing, then pivoted to take on the next, kicking upwards to break its jaw before he slashed.

The only warning that Misao had was a slight shifting in the darkness behind her, a sudden prickling on the back of her neck. She ducked instinctively and reached into her purse for the mace she always carried as a heavy arm shattered the glass of Aoshi's windows. By the time she came out of her crouch, she was closer than she really wanted to be to teeth and dripping saliva and muscles that somehow just looked _wrong_.

"Ugh, you _reek.._." Misao grimaced as she sprayed directly into sickly yellow eyes.

The creature howled, and brought its hands up to try to free itself from the burning pain.

"And you're not too bright, either... eww...claws, eyes, bad, ewww..." She grimaced and backed up as fast as her heels allowed.

The commotion had drawn Aoshi's attention, and he spun faster than thought, blue eyes burning with cold fire. As much as Misao had thought he was snarling before, his expression now was pure fury. Dispatching his current opponent with a swift double-stroke downwards, Aoshi was around the car and the recently-maced monster was definitively put out of its misery.

Looking down at the remains, then up to where Aoshi was casually flicking the blood... or whatever it was... from his blades, Misao raised one eyebrow and commented, panting slightly, "You certainly know how to show a girl an... interesting time... Look out!"

Then they both ducked as another arm clawed jerkily out of the darkness, forcing them to move backwards towards the wall. Aoshi positioned himself in front of Misao as swiftly and silently as a shadow, weapons at the ready. Looking around, Misao took stock of their situation, attempting to calculate where further attackers might come from. She wasn't sure how much mace was left in the little canister she had for her evening bag, and tried to think of anything else that she had with her that might possibly do damage.

Struck by inspiration in the form of one of Sano and Megumi's more legendary break-ups, Misao reached down and slipped off her shoes, holding onto one of them and placing the other on the ground. When another arm started to reach out of the darkness towards Aoshi, Misao yelled, "Back OFF!" and struck downwards with the heel, so that there was a howl of pain and a sudden retreat, the pointed heel penetrating through black cloth to lodge in skin and muscle.

'_Damn... those were new, too...'_ Misao thought unhappily as she picked up the remaining shoe.

Aoshi turned, surprise clearly written on his face as he almost absently dispatched the other assailant. Recovering quickly, he commented, "We can't allow any of them to escape," as he moved past her to chase the thing that she'd just wounded.

As Misao stood, shoe at the ready, wondering at her own relatively calm acceptance of the situation, a howl arose from the darkness into which Aoshi had moved—a howl that was cut off as soon as it had started. After several seconds of tense waiting, he strode back around the car, his coat glimmering faintly in the remaining light.

"That was the last of them," he informed her. "Are you hurt, Misao?"

'_Good question...'_ she thought. She hadn't had time to think about it. Looking down at herself, she answered, "No... I think that anything that's gotten onto the dress is from them... none of them got close enough to do anything. How about you?"

She didn't actually think that Aoshi had gotten injured at all either, but she was trying to find something to say while she figured out what exactly she wanted to say.

"Thank you for not letting the monsters get me" seemed inane; "Congratulations, you have won the 'most unique first date' award, an honor for which the competition was surprisingly close" wasn't quite what she wanted to say either.

Aoshi looked down at himself, obviously having had no more time to devote thought to possible injuries than she had while the battle was still going on. "No, I don't think so. The Owls might have improved their skills, and there were more of them this time, but, as minions go, they're still mindless low-ranking idiots."

"You know, I don't think I've ever had to ask any of my dates if they were human before...well, maybe once..." Misao mused thoughtfully as she ineffectually tried to brush at some of the spots on her bodice.

She really wished that she had a camera with her to capture the blush—she was sure it was a blush—that spread slowly across Aoshi's face.

"Ah..." he said, and didn't seem to quite know how to continue.

Tilting her head and quirking an eyebrow, Misao observed, "Hey... your fangs are gone again! Unless I was hallucinating that you had them... but they seemed to be, um, pretty obvious and fang-y."

"No... I mean, yes..." Closing his eyes, Aoshi took a deep breath. "Yes, they're gone; yes, they were there in the first place; no, you weren't imagining it..."

He seemed to be at a loss for what else to say, so Misao filled in the silence with, "Bet you weren't expecting this situation, were you?"

"No," Aoshi said, re-sheathing his swords in a long single sheath she was _quite_ sure he hadn't had at the restaurant, or in the car, or at any point up until the moment when he'd drawn his swords.

"The attack or the discussion which we're currently having?"

"Both. Well, I knew that we'd have something like this discussion eventually," he admitted. "At least I hoped that we would. Just... not this soon."

Misao was suddenly glad that she had one shoe left, because she was starting to get an urge to whap him with it, or at least brandish it threateningly.

"So you were going to go out with me and then tell me _later_ that oh, by the way, you're actually... um... what _are_ you, actually?"

"In your terms, I believe it would be a demon." Aoshi stated, his normal calm returning.

She really wished he knew how he did that.

"A demon. As in, well... demons, and weird pointy ears and fangs and claws and... you don't have a tail, do you?" Misao demanded.

"Um... No. And my ears aren't..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Misao continued, "And... and... those _Owls_, or whatever it was that attacked us? Were they demons too?"

Aoshi glanced towards the bodies with an expression of cool disdain. "The Owls are nothing but inferior copies. They were created to be brainless thugs."

"I would say that they were a success," she commented.

He snorted. "You should have seen the first batch; they couldn't even..."

Then he fell silent, clearly anticipating her next question. Misao rolled her eyes. "If you know I'm going to ask, why don't you just say it?"

"It was meant as a warning," Aoshi finally answered. "They were sent by someone who knew that they couldn't possibly beat me; in fact, I doubt he even expected them to wound me. And they had no idea that you would be here, so it's not like it was with ... it's not as if they thought they could hurt _you_. It was meant as a warning to me, an opening move..."

"Why is someone picking _you_ to play chess with, so to speak?"

This time the pause was so long that Misao was sure he wasn't going to answer her at all, that he was so caught up in his own reflections and meditations on the evening's events that he barely remembered she was there. Then he said, "History. Memories. A particularly bad decision on my part. The knowledge that I would be aware of all of this and that it would form the basis of my response to this particular gambit."

"Any chance of getting you to be less cryptic tonight?"

"Not really," he admitted.

There was an awkward silence between them as they each tried to figure out what to say next. Well, Misao was trying to figure out what to say next; she couldn't tell if Aoshi was doing the same thing, analyzing the attack, or planning his response to it.

Finally, she broke the stillness by asking, "Do we... need to clean anything up down here, or can we go upstairs?"

There was genuine surprise in Aoshi's eyes as he said, "You... you want to... Are you sure that you don't want to just go home."

Misao raised an eyebrow and said, "With one shoe, and a dress splattered with monster guts? That'll get the cabs to stop for me."

"I could..."

"I suspect the cops would frown on you driving a car with broken windows and, let's not forget," she said, gesturing with the hand holding the shoe, "massive engine damage."

Aoshi gave a rueful half-smile and said, "You have a point. In that case, would you like to come upstairs?"

"Yes, actually," Misao said thoughtfully. "I think that I would."

The elevator was almost noiseless as it quickly ascended to one of the top floors. Aoshi's apartment had a stunning view of the night skyline, and Misao's gasp as they stepped into the room was genuine. She was very thankful that he had thick, plush carpeting that felt wonderful on her stocking-clad feet.

"Can I get you something to drink?" he asked politely as he hung up his trenchcoat and suit jacket.

Misao twirled to where Aoshi was standing next to the bar area. Cocking her head to one side, she said, "That would be nice. I appreciate the attempt to either help me to calm down or restore normalcy to the situation, by the way. And nothing with alcohol, please."

"I'm glad that you... appreciate it," Aoshi said softly. "I have some fruit juice, or mineral water."

"Mmmm... surprise me!" she said.

While Aoshi was in the kitchen, Misao took the time to look over his apartment, at least as much as she could in the light coming in from the windows, and think about her situation.

'_Ok, the man that I... well, the entire issue is that he isn't a man, I suppose...still, fangs aside, he seems to be the same. Not like he's exactly been Clark Kenting and pretending to be a harmless fluffy bunny for the past twenty-four hours... which brings me to the question of how I feel about him... this... well, yes, him. How do I, Misao Makimachi, now feel about Aoshi Shinomori, demon and very deadly fighter who apparently has somebody about to come after him?'_

Her musings were interrupted by Aoshi returning from the kitchen with two glasses. She accepted one gratefully and covered her confusion by taking several sips.

"It's apple juice with mineral water," Aoshi explained as he saw her raise one eyebrow.

"Oh...," Misao said, "It's very... it's refreshing."

'_Just the thing after a shocking revelation and a bunch of monsters... great, Misao, it figures you'd have trouble figuring out what to say just when it's important. And he's clearly not going to say anything, which leaves it up to you.'_

Aoshi had gone to lean against one of the windows, having set his glass down on the coffee table. She could see the tension in his shoulders, and wondered what he expected her to do or say. Misao walked across towards him on silent feet and stood next to him. Glancing sideways, it suddenly occurred to her that he looked as if he was holding himself apart, from the world or from her, she wasn't sure.

He looked terribly... lonely, she realized. Setting himself apart and keeping barriers up between himself and the rest of the world, his coldly collected appearance becoming the perfect defense.

"Aoshi?" Misao inquired, wondering how on earth she could start the conversation that they needed to have... assuming she could figure out exactly what that conversation was in the first place.

"You should go," Aoshi stated abruptly, without turning to face her.

"I should... didn't we cover this already?" Misao asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I can give you some clothes to wear home, and then I can call a taxi for you," Aoshi continued.

"Ok, if that's what I wanted, I would have asked you, you know. I'm usually not shy about asking things," Misao pointed out.

"Misao..." Aoshi said, finally turning to face her, the light of the city reflecting in his eyes and casting shadows across his face. "I don't think... I don't think that you should be... Misao, we can't..."

"What happened to hoping that we would have this discussion someday? Please don't tell me that time in the kitchen to think has led to some kind of Peter Parker, "Friendship is all I can offer you because I'm afraid you'll be a target" kind of moment. Because if so, I may have to hit you with my shoe."

"It's not that... not entirely." Aoshi let out a long breath. "I won't deny that the thought of you being made a target was... is... something that I find extremely hard to face. You shouldn't have to worry about things like that. However... that's not the real reason. Misao, you can do better than being with someone like me. You deserve better."

"Have you _seen_ the human dating market recently?" Her tone was mildly amused, but her expression remained serious. "I dated a corporate lawyer once. Why should a demon be a problem?"

There was no warning; Aoshi moved quicker than her eyes could follow and Misao found herself pinned against the window, Aoshi looking down at her with a fierce and foreboding expression, his mouth twisted into something like a snarl, fangs once again clearly visible.

"This is not a matter for joking," he said coldly, biting off the words, "You should leave and not look back, Misao. This is not the relationship you want."

Fire kindled in her eyes as she glared up at him. "Listen, you... you... I've dated guys who defined the term "toxic bachelor," all kinds of emotional horrors, and immature to boot, and _you_," she continued, poking him in the chest for emphasis, and ignoring his startled expression, "are not like that. Don't tell me what I do or do not want, Aoshi!"

Aoshi let go of her shoulders and stepped away again, and looked her directly in the eyes. "I'm not a hero, Misao. I've done things that the human world—that my _own_ world--would find unforgivable. I've done things that I find it difficult to forgive myself for. I am not, generally speaking, known for being merciful towards my opponents, or my targets."

"You protected me," she said simply. "You didn't have to--- I know that you didn't have to—but you did it anyway. You could have gotten yourself out of the way of that first strike and let it hit me; you could have used me as bait; you could have just dropped me on the other side of that car and run off to fight without giving another thought to me. And don't think that I'm forgetting to give you credit for a perfect romantic evening before that incident in the garage, either. That still counts, you know."

Since Aoshi didn't quite seem to know how to respond to what she had said, Misao decided to keep going.

"You know, I don't usually tackle men I've just met in dark nightclubs," she remarked, "You can ask any of my friends. Not to mention the fact that just seeing you struck me completely speechless, which, by the way, shocked them more than finding out that you're a demon would. Well, probably. The _point_ is that seeing you... the moment I saw you... it was like every single romantic cliché I'd ever heard made sense, and I _knew_... I knew that there would never be anybody else... and... .and that if you left I would follow you for as long as it took to find you again, no matter what. If you asked me why, or how it happened... I could list things about you until the sun came up, but I'm still not sure that would explain things completely. It just... it just _is_."

The tall man standing across from her was looking at her with his eyes wide, and if she hadn't been so earnest in her attempts to convince him, Misao would have giggled at how poleaxed his expression was. As it was, she merely stepped closer to him, putting her hand on his upper arm as if she was afraid she would startle him, and softly said, "Aoshi... if it wasn't like that for you... I don't mean to be putting pressure on you. But I want you to understand that I'm not afraid of what you are, or where we're going with this. I'd rather be going wherever it is with you than be here by myself just because you've decided it's safer for me."

"Misao..." His voice was a mere breath of sound as she let herself lean against him. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he let his arms come up to encircle her, as if she was going to vanish if he moved too quickly. She knew exactly how he felt; she felt the same way as she reached up and wrapped her arms his neck.

They stood there, simply holding one another, for several long moments. Then Misao leaned back slightly so that she could look up into his eyes, and said with a faintly mischievous smile, "You know, I think that I would still like that coffee."

Aoshi's brow furrowed in confusion, and he blinked. "Oh... I... alright; we can..." As he spoke, he moved to let go of her, and blinked again when Misao's response was to tighten her arms, pulling him down towards her, so that she could brush her lips against his throat and then press herself against him as she stood slightly on tiptoe.

"Who on earth," she purred against his ear, "said anything about having coffee right now?"

It took several seconds for Misao's words to register with him, time that she happily used to nibble his earlobe and run her hands across his chest. She could tell exactly when he made the connection, because his heart suddenly beat faster as his arms tightened around her. Pulling back slightly, she grinned at the expression on his face, the light kindling in his eyes. Before she could kiss him the way that she wanted to, Aoshi had bent his head to claim her lips with his own, and was once again making her melt in his arms, this time with an eagerness that made her feel faintly dizzy. His arms were the only things holding her up as he bent his head to keep kissing her.

There was heat streaking along all of her nerves, the movement of his body against hers making her need to be closer. She eagerly began to unbutton his shirt, making a faint happy noise in the back of her throat as she realized that Aoshi had never re-buttoned it after the garage. That meant that it took very little time for her to finish the task and begin exploring the texture of his skin, the warmth of him under her hands. He made another one of those low noises as he moved down to her neck, his hands tangling in her hair and destroying the careful arrangement so that it tumbled down around her.

Misao was so caught up in the feel of his mouth against her skin that she almost missed the faint noise of her zipper being undone, and she jumped slightly at the feel of cool air against her back. Aoshi's hands traced her down her spine and then back up to gently pull on the sleeves. It was almost automatic for her to move her arms to help him, although she pouted slightly at having to stop touching him, no matter how briefly. On the other hand, she had to give him credit for an excellent idea, and immediately began wrestling him out of his own sleeves. It was slightly awkward to coordinate their efforts, but they managed, and her dress fell to the ground almost at the same moment as she finally managed to get his shirt free of his arms. She stepped free of the pool of fabric and looked up at Aoshi.

The sight of him standing there in the light coming in from the window made her stare momentarily. Then she caught sight of his expression as he gazed at her, his eyes traveling slowly upwards from her feet, absorbing every detail of the woman standing in front of him.

When he finally reached her face, the breath caught in the back of her throat at the look in his eyes, the evident hunger that burned into her and shook her, erasing all thought except for a vague and inconsequential brief moment of thankfulness for her purchases that afternoon. Then she was in his arms again, and all she could feel was his skin against hers, the way that his mouth was making her back arch as she clutched at him reflexively. She could feel the wicked curve of his smile against her skin at the noises she was making, and renewed the explorations of her own hands.

She kissed whatever parts of him she could reach, reveling in the taste of his skin and the way she could make him respond as much as she was reveling in what he was doing to her. When she reached to unbutton his pants, however, he went still and stepped back slightly. Her hands dropped to her side as she tilted her head inquiringly.

"Misao..." Aoshi murmured, hesitating and brushing her bangs back from her face with one careful hand that she wouldn't have sworn wasn't shaking slightly, "Are you... are you sure, Misao?"

It took some effort, but she managed not to roll her eyes. Instead, leaning forward, Misao kissed him lightly on the lips, then proceeded to map a path along his jaw. Smiling against his skin at the way his breath caught, she said between kisses, "Aoshi... _dearest _Aoshi... please shut up."

She couldn't see his smile, but she could picture it, could almost sense it echoing through her as he pulled her close, could feel the curve of his lips as he kissed her and lifted her easily against him. Her own smile was a reflection of it as she wrapped herself around him and let him carry her, trusting in his strength, in him, and in what was between them.

* * *

Next Chapter: The author finally gives Kaoru some time to think through recent events. Kaoru promptly tries to exchange it for a one-way ticket to the Bahamas.

Author's Note: Funny thing—if you finish a chapter over the weekend, but don't have Internet access until Monday, it kind of messes with your ability to post things. Huh. Imagine that. Also—gah, action. And citrus. In one chapter. Hopefully enough and not to much of both of them. More than enough to make my brain repeatedly attempt to run away and hide (Nekotsuki, may I borrow your rock if you're not using it?). In this chapter, I borrowed the Owls, who Houji sends to attack the Aoiya in order to force Okina and the others to reveal where Battousai has gotten to (It's the attack that leads to my favorite Okina line ever, "Not a very experienced ninja, are you boy?" I also like the way that Aoshi is clearly proud of the Oniwabanshu and their ability to defeat the Owls even though he's technically on the opposite side). I also took Okina's real name, Nenji Kashiwazaki, as the name of the company Misao is interning with. Italian meals traditionally consist of the antipasti, then a first course (pasta or rice or soup), a second course (meat or fish) which usually has vegetable side dishes with it, then a salad, then dessert. I think that I got it right in this chapter, but if anybody notices errors, feel free to point them out. Since completing this chapter devoured whatever part of my brain was left after moving to my summer location, there may be various other problems and/or inconsistencies, for which I apologize. If folks point them out, I'll try to remember to correct them, assuming I can poke my brain into wakefulness.

And, whee! More fanart! This time, it's a fun picture of Kenshin and Kaoru in the mall, by Shannon, at http/www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/1908631/ Kenshin's outfit is great; Kaoru's outfit is slightly different from what she wore in the chapter, but still looks great (although really, it's a good thing that she _wasn't_ wearing a miniskirt in the chapter, all things considered...)

In this chapter I don't own: Apple juice and mineral water, because I drank them. But I shall acquire more! Bwa ha ha! I also don't own the first Spiderman movie—and haven't even _seen_ the second one yet, shockingly enough. Nor do I own the "toxic bachelor" concept from "Sex and the City." Or the moment in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" where Forest laments to Riley that in spite of the fact that they're both secret government soldiers they are forced to Clark Kent their way through the dating scene. And, finally, I don't own the lovely song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square," by Manning Sherwin and Eric Maschwitz, from which I took the title (gasp!—thus quoting LYRICS, the horror... just don't tell ffnet...)... The song starts "That certain night; the night we met/ There was magic abroad in the air... There were angels dining at the Ritz, and a nightingale sang in Berkley Square...". No actual angels, and they met the night before... but it's still a great line and lovely sentiment for Aoshi and Misao's first date.

Reviewer Responses: --looks around to see if she has enough brain cells to respond to reviewers... decides it ain't gettin' any better any time soon, so she might as well...— Thanks to everybody who offered good wishes for the move! And, thank you to everybody who reviewed! It is always so great to come back after posting a chapter and find so much feedback. And, welcome to the new folks! Also, to everybody who has been wondering why Kaoru hasn't stopped to think things through... things have been moving pretty fast (after all, this is just the day after everything happened with Jineh and Kenshin got his sword back, etc.!). Next chapter, however...

angels-giving89: Nope, no vampires. Just demons. And various other monsters. Glad that you liked the cafe scene!

Angelwingsbaka: Kaoru might just start carrying a carving knife when she goes to the mall. Or to school. Or anywhere else, really.

animegurl23: I know! It's an amazing number of reviews. And, thank you!

Anne Novemberly: In his car? Um.. I'm sure that Aoshi just keeps normal stuff, like jumper cables and emergency flares and a spare tire and an extra pair of kodachi. And some perfectly ordinary black boxes that definitely don't contain anything suspicious. Nope, not at all. Kaoru didn't actually bring a purse to the club; just the license and mad money. She has a house key stashed outside of her apartment somewhere; I'll try to remember to mention her putting the spare car key back in the next chapter. Her apartment building has a central courtyard that the windows look out over, but there aren't balconies or anything; the apartment doors open out onto the hallway. The bottles that Kenshin had were blank; really no way of knowing if they were the exact brand Kaoru uses, or, say, some kind of generic demon equivalent.

apathetica: You're welcome! In terms of not talking to Kenshin... well, considering how Kenshin tends to behave when they're alone together, Kaoru is probably concentrating on avoiding any situation where she could bring up things like demons and having killed him and so on. Besides which, she really hasn't gotten time to herself to think yet since the Jineh incident. Yet.

Apathetic Empath2: Two fast chapters, but then this one was later... ah well... Kenshin did indeed want to get Kaoru back for running out. And if it meant he ended up with people convinced he's dating her.. well, he's not going to complain.

Bethy-kun: Thank you! I know that with an AU scenario, it's often difficult to keep characters.. well, themselves, so it's always great to hear people say that they are recognizable and so on.

Bradybunch4529: Thank you! Whee, shrines! Glad that you liked the reactions, and Kaoru's mental commentary.

Cobaltsky: Part of the problem is that Kaoru really hasn't had that much time to think about things since the incident with Jineh. Never fear; she's about to get some.

Crimson Rayne: Yup, literal moving. Wish that the luggage had been fictional, but, alas, it wasn't. Hope that the date lived up to expectations.

Dea Mariella: Thank you! I will try to keep being more specific about the references, although it's entirely possible that I will miss some (sometimes, references just kind of happen).

fantasy angel victoria: Kaoru is indeed various sorts of doomed after that afternoon with Misao and Megumi and Kenshin. And, yes, indeed, Kenshin very deliberately set out to get Kaoru's best friends on his side.

Grimnoire: Thank you! My computer/Internet situation is actually better here than I had expected, although the weekends are pretty much Internet-less. I'm trying to figure out how to re-arrange things accordingly.

Indygodusk: Summer colds are no fun. Glad that you liked the dressing room scene, and the mall scene in general.

Jade Lightning-Wolf: Yup, definitely a case of "Karma Strikes Back." And, thank you!

Kalasin: Thank you! Glad that the updates lifted your spirit. Hmm... I will have to try to work in more Sano and Megumi at some point, definitely...

Lendra-chan: Kenshin sees no reason to play fair, particularly when Kaoru runs after he tells her not to.

Linay: Thank you!

luvHaru7: Thank you! I haven't read any of the Alanna books in ages, and your review made me want to track them down again and read the ones I hadn't gotten to the first time.

miyazawa kano: Thank you! Glad that it makes you smile. And laugh. And so on.

NalaravatheRed: Hope that the date was up to expectations!

omasuoniwabanshu: The reviewer responses are getting longer and longer, aren't they... yikes. Kenshin has various sneaky demonic abilities.. he was able to hide himself in the shadows during the school hallway chapter, and so on. And, of course, when he has a goal in mind, he can be very determined. –grins- For chapter 18: Well, Saitoh is there as Kaoru's supervising teacher during the day, so it's easier to ask him. Well, "easier" in the sense that Kenshin doesn't want to do it... but, really, can you imagine him _wanting_ to ask Hiko something like that? Haven't read "Straight and Crooked Thinking," but thanks for the reference! It sounds terribly useful.

openwindow: Whee, Italy! Fun! Sorry that I didn't get this up before you went to check... but I hope that you do get a chance to check later today or tomorrow. And that you have a great trip.

Sally: Oh,no, you're fine about semicolons. I think I just use them more than lots of other writers. Part of the whole tendency to write long sentences.

Shannon: Thank you for the review and fanart! Great picture! I really like what you did with Kenshin's outfit; nice colors for him. And, Kaoru looked terribly cute (although it's a good thing that she wasn't wearing a miniskirt at the time, what with Kenshin's wandering hands and all...).

Shatterred Immortality: Sorry; no Kenshin or Kaoru this chapter—I hope that you enjoyed it anyway! Misao and Megumi definitely did pounce on the "evidence" of Kaoru being involved in a relationship with Kenshin.

skenshingumi: Thank you! Hmm... I will try to work in more of Kenshin's POV if I get a chance to.

sueb262: Whoops! Yes, that sentence did get slightly mangled. I will have to correct that. Thanks for pointing it out! And, thank you for reviewing! Glad that you enjoy the story.

Triste1: Hmm... when I get a chance, I will have to look over Chapter 19 again for escaped punch lines (any specific ones?)... Thank you! Hmm... I suppose I can always hope that the squirrels fall into the peanut butter and get stuck, in a quicksandy kind of way...

Via x Infinito: Welcome! Thank you for all of your reviews! I appreciate them, and hope that you continue to enjoy the story.


	21. Game and Match

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty: Game and Match

* * *

Having to sneak into the building where she lived was a new experience for Kaoru. She wasn't sure if Kenshin would have returned yet from whatever errand he'd gotten called about or not. For all she knew, he'd made up the errand and faked a telephone call so that he could be waiting for her in her apartment, where he probably would have cooked her dinner and done other things that undoubtedly had some devious and evil motivation behind them.

In the past forty-eight hours, Kaoru had been danced with, kidnapped, and rescued essentially by being kidnapped again. She had faced horror, violence, and insanity, she had dealt with swords and socks, and she had managed to survive an afternoon shopping with her friends after they had been convinced that she now had a boyfriend.

What she wanted right now was time in her apartment, by herself, to think about these various and sundry events and try to put them into some kind of logical order, which she could then use to plan her next steps.

There was no sign of Kenshin's car in the parking lot, and Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief as she made sure her emergency spare car key was back in its hidden box.

In her heedless flight out of his apartment and down the stairs, she hadn't even paid attention to which floorhe lived on, but as she exited the stairs a familiar-looking water stain caught her attention.

Blinking, Kaoru found herself momentarily frozen before she started to laugh.

'_Of course... of course Kenshin would pick an apartment on the floor of his stalkee. I can just imagine him going into the office and saying, "Hey, do you have anything free on the fourth floor in that third building from the left? Well, don't worry; I'm sure one of the tenants is bound to have an unfortunate accident any day now..."_ '

When she entered her apartment, she moved cautiously, looking from left to right for signs of anything out of the ordinary, any kind of illicit or supernatural activity.

The utter chaos in her living room was just the result of Misao's attempts to make her presentable for their club outing; the papers on her desk were equal parts work-related and demon-destroying notes. Other than that, everything seemed perfectly neat and normal.

Letting out the breath she'd been holding, Kaoru put down her purse and took her jacket off. She took the groceries she'd purchased on her way home into the kitchen, stuck the grape juice in the fridge and the Rocky Road in the freezer, and turned the oven up to the correct temperature for the frozen pizza she'd picked up.

Everything on the coffee table and the couch was picked up in one fell swoop and bundled off to the bedroom. She would deal with sorting things out later. Right now she needed the space to stretch out and take notes.

Once she had the pizza in the oven, she got the relevant notebooks from over on her desk and reclined on the couch. She read through her demon-related notes and crossed out things that weren't going to be relevant now that Kenshin had his sword back.

Suddenly, Kaoru sat bolt upright as a realization struck her.

Kenshin had his sword back... and she had no idea where he was. For all she knew, he could have left town now that he'd gotten what he wanted; he could be out killing people right at that moment

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid; I should have taken that sword and chucked it into the river the minute he showed up again; I should have booby-trapped it with... with... well, I don't know what, but I'll bet I could have found things in the chem lab at school... how am I going to stop him now, if he decides it's time for another massacre?'_

Taking several deep breaths, Kaoru managed to get her thoughts back into something resembling logical order. Kenshin could have left immediately after he'd gotten his sword; she'd been over that one already. He didn't have to come and rescue her, although the fact that he'd clearly had a personal grudge against Jineh made a difference...

Something was hovering just on the edges of her awareness, something she'd heard at the factory, but she couldn't quite bring it into mental focus. Every time she tried to think about what had happened there, her brain insisted on bringing up images of shadows and blood and the clashing of swords, playing them back like a film, but without any of the words.

"_Oh, sure, Technicolor but no sound... just my luck,'_ Kaoru thought as she tapped her pen against the notepad. _'Ignoring everything that was just me talking things through with myself... was it something Jineh said or something that Kenshin said? Did Jineh say anything that wasn't creepy smalltalk and psycho threats?'_

The oven buzzer normally didn't make Kaoru start, fall of the couch, and then swear loudly. On the other hand, it usually didn't interrupt attempts to remember important demon-related information that might save her life and the lives of her friends.

She cut the pizza into slices with more vigor than normal, glaring at the pepperoni as if it was responsible for her current predicament. It took two slices and a glass of root beer before she was able to calm down enough to pull out her notebook again and re-attempt to remember what she had overheard.

Fortunately, Kaoru was perfectly capable of chewing and thinking at the same time.

"_Come on, Kamiya; this can't be that difficult. You've done more difficult things, some of which weren't even in any way connected to Kenshin. All you need to do is take a deep breath or three, and put your thoughts in order...'_

'_Order...'_

Kaoru swore she heard the audible click of a light bulb going on over her head as she suddenly remembered...

"_Ah, ah, ah, Battousai...you know that your orders were to take me alive..."_

"_Do you honestly think I in any way care what my orders might have been?" _

Jineh's gleeful taunt. Kenshin's coldly disdainful response.

And both of them had mentioned orders.

Kenshin had been acting under orders... well, she amended, Kenshin had apparently been completely ignoring his orders, but that didn't change the fact that he'd clearly _had_ some.

Orders meant that there had to be somebody, someplace, who was _giving_ the orders.

Kaoru turned that idea around in her head and looked at it from every angle she could think of, trying to find a way she could have been wrong. Assuming that she'd heard correctly—and since both Jineh and Kenshin had talked about Kenshin's orders as a given thing, she probably had—then her problems might be a lot bigger than just one random demon who had a sword and wasn't afraid to use it.

'_Oh, boy... not good, not good... polar opposite of good, with a side order of reasons to just go hide in my closet for about a week...'_

If Kenshin had had orders about Jineh... did that mean that he'd had orders in high school as well? Was that why his time there had been "I came, I saw, I sliced?" Had he been following whatever orders he might have had, or had he been ignoring them, the way that he had done with Jineh?

Why would a demon have gotten orders about a bunch of high school kids?

'_Don't go jumping to conclusions, Kaoru,'_ she thought to herself, _'He could have just been slaughtering in his spare time... maybe he was on vacation... do demons get vacations?'_

Sighing, Kaoru reminded herself that whether Kenshin had been acting on his own or not back then wasn't the vital issue; the important thing was that now she knew that he wasn't simply acting on his own all the time. It wasn't shiny happy news, but it was definitely important, and she would have to take it into account. Because the last thing she needed was to end up with more demonic stalker-type problems.

She still hadn't figured out what category to put Aoshi in.

The immediate issue on the agenda continued to be Kenshin and his newly re-acquired sword. And, she grudgingly admitted to herself, possibly certain other aspects of his behavior. Everything that had happened at the mall... well, possibly not the bit in the dressing room where she'd been alone... but anything that had happened when her friends were around was clearly punishing her for leaving. Which still left the incident in the dressing room, the incident at his apartment, and, well, the fact that she had woken up that morning to a demon who could best be described as "snuggly."

If that kind of behavior was still going on even after Kenshin had gotten his sword back...

Kaoru swallowed hard.

If that kind of behavior was still going on even after Kenshin had gotten his sword back...

...then maybe...

She really, _really_ didn't want to finish that sentence. Finishing that sentence seemed like the sort of thing that would open doors that couldn't be closed again. It was already treading perilously close to some territory she didn't want to get near.

For example, Kaoru had been working very hard not to think about the specifics of how she had broken Jineh's spell. It didn't matter how much she told herself that it could have been somebody else there, that it could have been her father or brother or anybody she knew well... the fact remained that it had been thinking about _Kenshin_ that had enabled her to break the spell. And not just about Kenshin as he had been recently, but Kenshin as he had been back in high school.

'_Oh, come on; you already admitted that you were... that when he was kissing you... that it was all about hormones, and... and... that it would have been the same with anybody! _

_Now you just have to admit that you were lying about the "anybody" part...'_

Closing her eyes, Kaoru took a deep breath through her nose. No. No. Absolutely not. There was no way that she could be...

'_He's a demon! He KILLS people! Granted, in the one instance where you saw him, they were excessively annoying people, but that's not the point. Just because he's good-looking, and an amazingly good kisser, and has done occasional nice and not even creepy things, like bringing lunch, or giving you a ride... Kaoru Kamiya, you CANNOT be attracted to him. No, no, no. Put that idea down and back away slowly. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars...'_

It was a good thing that she had a match scheduled with Yahiko for the next afternoon; she had a feeling she was really going to need serious stress relief.

Carrying the pizza box and her glass back into the kitchen, Kaoru spent several minutes concentrating on mundane tasks like packing up the pizza, rinsing her glass, and putting it into the dishwasher.

Then she got her spare bokken out, moved the furniture in the living room back, and ran through a full set of katas in an attempt to clear her mind.

_Swing_

Kenshin's getting his sword back hadn't changed his behavior towards her.

_Swing_

Well, unless you counted the fact that he seemed even less willing to leave her alone.

_Swing_.

If it had been anybody else, then Kaoru would have said that what he wanted...

_Swing_

... she would have said that what Kenshin wanted wasn't necessarily his sword, it was...

_Swing_

... it was her.

Kaoru's bokken halted mid-swing and she tried to get her breath back from where it had caught in her throat.

Misao's voice echoed in her memory, "_Kaoru! Kaoru, did you see that? He looked right at you!... Either way, one of you was definitely noticing."_

'_It's not possible,'_ Kaoru thought, almost frantically, _'It's NOT... there's no way he's interested in me; I mean, I killed him, for one thing, and I'm not exactly the sort of girl that... I mean, what on earth could he possibly see in somebody like me... not to keep harping on it, but I KILLED him, and he can't not know that I've been trying to figure out ways to do it again, no matter how attractive I might... I might...'_

'_Oh, crap.'_

Breaking out of her position, Kaoru slumped onto the couch.

Well, there it was. She had finally admitted it to herself. She, Kaoru Kamiya, was strongly attracted to a demon, one who she'd actually witnessed killing her high school classmates, one whose capacity for bloodshed she'd seen yet again when he'd been busy chopping Jineh up in the warehouse. She wasn't even entirely sure that she could blame it all on some kind of purely physical attraction, as much as she really, really wanted to. It would have been much easier to say that it was nothing more than the way that Kenshin kissed, or the way that his arms had felt around her, or way his mouth and his teeth had felt on her neck.

Kaoru realized that she was blushing fiercely and frowned at herself.

'_Ok, I think we can just take Kenshin's physical attractiveness as a given, and move on to the next item on the agenda!'_ she remonstrated with herself.

'_What else is it about him, and how can I figure out a way to not be affected by it... well... he was worried about me getting to school and back safely; good. He then stole my bike so that I would have to get a ride from him and then buy a car earlier than I wanted to; bad. He rescued me from a horrible situation, brought me safely back to his apartment, and didn't try anything while I was unconscious, no matter how much he seems to enjoy trying things when I'm awake... definitely good. He made waffles; good. He chased me down and did horribly embarrassing things in front of my friends, acting like I belonged to him or something... which... well, is both bad and inaccurate. And presumptuous. And annoying. And not true. Which I kind of already said. Great; I'm repeating myself. And I'm saying things more than once.'_

This really wasn't helping her to get her disordered thoughts under better control. In fact, the more she let her thoughts run along those lines, the more confused Kaoru found herself getting. It was one thing to make herself admit that she was attracted to a demon, and to admit that it looked like the demon in question was attracted to her. However, that was really as far as she seemed to be able to get. She had no idea what to do next. Flee? Barricade herself into her apartment? Slip a note under Kenshin's door saying, "Do you like me? Check ( ) yes ( ) no" ?"

'_This is clearly a complicated issue, and one that I need to sleep on and think about more tomorrow, after the match with Yahiko has helped me focus. Focus is always good.'_

Walking back over to where she'd put her notebook, Kaoru had to admit that the results of the evening's deliberations were inconclusive at best. In fact, she wasn't sure that she didn't have more questions now than she had had in the first place.

Sleep was looking like a good option. A good night's sleep and a good sparring match; that would make everything better. Somehow.

* * *

Kaoru sat bolt upright in bed, her heart pounding, her breath coming in short, panicked bursts, the nightmare still clinging to her mind.

It had started out innocuously enough, a bizarre mix of her current teaching assignment with her high school days, where she was trying to deliver a very important lecture on Newton and apples and gravity to a classroom full of bored jocks and cheerleaders who were loudly popping bubble gum. Mr. Fujita had been sitting by the windowsill, chain-smoking and making occasional comments about her lecture style and wardrobe choices. She had turned around to write something on the blackboard, but there hadn't been any chalk, and when she'd turned to inform Mr. Fujita...

... the students had been paying even less attention than before, although she supposed she couldn't blame them... it was hard to get interested in Newtonian physics when you had to worry about things like what had happened to your other arm, or the way that the blood pouring from your throat was making a mess of all your notes, and clearly you couldn't be expected to take notes in the first place if your eyes had been reduced to empty, bleeding sockets...

Her voice hadn't seemed to be working as she stared at the figures in front of her, some of whom were mercifully slumped and unmoving, but some of whom were still mechanically attempting to write things down, disregarding the blood spilling with every jerking movement they made.

"Well, don't just stand there, Ms Kamiya! If you're out of chalk, go to the factory and get some!" Mr. Fujita had snapped, and, even though part of Kaoru's mind had been screaming that she really didn't think that that was a good idea, she had suddenly found herself in a long hallway, where the lockers had mutated into something rusted and industrial, gears grinding somewhere in the background, unseen doors creaking as the lights flickered on and off. She could hear other noises in the background, somewhere behind her...

...the steady, even tread of someone who knows that their prey isn't going to be able to escape, no matter how quickly it runs, and a noise like a sword being dragged, excruciatingly slowly, across a floor...

She'd run, but it had been that horrible kind of running that happens in dreams, the kind where your feet felt caught in tar, where you somehow knew that you were making no progress forwards. And as the sounds from behind kept getting closer and closer, she'd looked down to see that what felt like tar was flowing red and sticky around her ankles, a tide that was rising even as she looked at it, and then there had been a flash of silver in the darkness, a sharp edge heading towards her in ridiculously slow motion, so that she leaned out of the way of the amber-sparking edge, and found herself falling, arms windmilling wildly in a way that she knew looked ridiculous, but it didn't matter, because it wasn't helping, and she was falling into that redness that was clinging to her feet and ankles and...

And then she'd woken up, disoriented and gasping for breath, confused by the darkness surrounding her until she'd caught sight of the glowing green of her clock.

'_At least I didn't pick a glowing red clock... glowing red would have been freaky right about now...'_ Kaoru thought as she finally got her breathing back under control. _'Oh, for... that can't possibly be the correct time...'_

She winced. An hour and a half before her alarm went off; she _hated_ when that happened. Not enough time to get any really satisfying sleep, and still too early to drag herself out of bed. Resolutely closing her eyes, Kaoru decided to at least try to get some sleep.

'_Hydrogen, helium, lithium; beryllium, boron, carbon...'_ she recited to herself, her own version of counting sheep. Tonight it took longer than usual; her mind was slow to fall into the familiar comforting rhythm. Somewhere between gadolinium and radium, she fell into an uneasy doze that lasted until the buzz of the alarm startled her awake again.

Bleary-eyed, Kaoru stumbled through her morning routine for Sundays. After a quick breakfast, centered around coffee, with a side of coffee, she headed to the bathroom to shower. First, she removed the bandages on her wrists, not wanting to wear them under the water. Even in her half-awake state, she found herself blinking once the bandages were off. Instead of the angry-looking scratches and abrasions she'd seen only the day before, her wrists looked almost entirely healed. True, there were faint pink lines, and she could see the traces of her injuries if she squinted, but overall, nobody looking at her would have been able to tell that she'd ever been forced to try to free herself from being tied up by a madman who wanted to kill her after he...

'_Not thinking about that right now; brand new day, full of shiny, happy whistle-while-you-pound-your-brother-into-the-ground-type thoughts... and some understandable wondering what on earth was in that jar of goop Kenshin put onto my wrists.. Megumi would kill for something like that... hmm... there's a thought... tell Megumi about it, and then sic her on Kenshin..." _

She turned the shower up high enough to steam the mirror in less than five seconds and just stood underneath the water until it had helped dissipate the tension too little sleep always left between her shoulder blades.

The sweet scent of her jasmine bodywash helped wake her up even further and she sighed in satisfaction as it helped dispel the last lingering traces of her nightmare. By the time she got out, she was reasonably awake and the cobwebs had cleared from her brain. True, her fingers looked like big pink raisins, but she felt a lot better. She wrapped herself in her bathrobe and went to brush her hair in front of the mirror, and then stopped, eyes wide, as she caught sight of her own reflection.

The bruised marks at the base of her throat, dusted across her collarbone, were a match for the one she'd found on her wrist, and were quite clearly the result of Kenshin's activities in the dressing room the day before. Her immediate reaction was to slap her hand over the marks and close her eyes with a panicked squeak, as if that would make them go away or erase them from existence. Unfortunately, when she peeled her fingers back and let herself take a cautious peek out of one eye, they were still there.

'_I... he... that's...oh, my God...'_ If there had been any fog left in Kaoru's brain, it would have been blown away by the sheer shock she was feeling, and any memory of her nightmare was dispersed by the sudden memory of Kenshin's words the day that he had moved into the building...

"_Did... something happen to your neck?"_

"_Pity... well, maybe next time, then..."_

'_I guess that he meant it...'_ was the first collected thought that she could put together. _'He really, really... I really need to have a chair in here for this sort of occasion, because collapsing onto the floor is probably going to be uncomfortable... yup, definitely uncomfortable...and the situation doesn't look any better from down here either, imagine that...I wonder if I can pretend this was an allergic reaction to my own cooking... that sounds believable... Yahiko would definitely... oh, no, sparring match; little brother, seeing these... oh, dear Lord in heaven...'_

Standing back up, Kaoru found that she was relieved to have a practical task to focus on. Especially after her mental debate the previous night, she did not feel up to deciphering her reaction to clear and visible reminders of how Kenshin had behaved, not when she could practically still feel the heat of his mouth on her skin whenever she looked at them. Concentrating instead on avoiding massive embarrassment that afternoon, she stalked to her bedroom and dug through her scarf drawer, then paused as she held up a long rectangle of turquoise silk.

'_And how exactly are you going to explain wearing a scarf with your practice clothes, hmm? Doesn't exactly match, does it... and make-up would run, even if you had any foundation thick enough... guess I'll just have to fasten my gi really high... maybe I can pin it. That should work. I hope. Other than that... high collars and scarves for the next several days. And no more dressing rooms for the foreseeable future...'_

For the rest of the morning, Kaoru puttered and cleaned and avoided looking at mirrors. Lunch, like all meals Kaoru cooked for herself, was fairly simple. She boiled water for tortellini, heated some tomato sauce, and made herself a salad. Over lunch, she read parts of the paper, and started working on the crossword puzzle over a cup of coffee and some chocolate from her emergency "Wake up and deal with whatever it is" stash.

Once the dishes were washed, Kaoru was ready to head back over to the dojo. She frowned as she headed down the stairs again. This was one situation where driving instead of biking was supremely annoying. The bike ride back to the dojo would have been a nice warm-up, a way to get her muscles loose before the sparring match. As it was, she was going to have to leave early just to give herself time to do an extra set of warm-up katas before the match.

One more thing she could find to be annoyed with Kenshin about this morning. Unfortunately, just when she was prepared to be memorably and effectively snappish, the idiot refused to be lurking anywhere in the vicinity.

As she opened the door to her car, she wondered if it was hypocritical of her to be annoyed with him for not lurking just when she wished he would.

* * *

Next Chapter: Stress. Relief.

Author's note: --looks at definite lack of red-headed demons in this chapter and hides under the nearest table from irate readers-- Um... at least Kaoru has finally recognized that it's not all about the sword? And that she is attracted to Kenshin? That's good, right? Right? –decides to stay under the table for a while--.

And, a special note about Misao (which I should have included in that chapter where I was in too much of a hurry to include any real Author's Note or Reviewer Responses): Several people have mentioned, at one point or another, that.. well... I seem to be making Misao the one who is tackling a random high school boyfriend in the library, and making comments about pool tables or Kaoru's virginity, plus, of course, pouncing Aoshi in the nightclub pretty much the minute she sees him, etc. Erk. Two things: First, if it had been anybody else, Misao wouldn't have pounced them in the nightclub; that was Aoshi-specific. In fact, if you look at the flashback, right after Misao has kissed him, she has a moment of panicked "Oh-my-God-he's-going-to-think-I'm-a-slut; I've totally screwed this up, I'm such an IDIOT!" before he kisses her back. As she says in the last chapter, she sees him and she knows that he's The One (which seemed very Misao and Aoshi for me—single-minded determination and conviction on her part). Second... well, ok, see, the very first time we meet Canon Misao, she's using the promise of easy sex to lure a bunch of idiot small-town Yakuza into the woods so that she can use her mad kempo kick skillz to knock them into oblivion and then rob them. And, from her line about "Men are born suckers," you can pretty much tell that it's not the first time in her wanderings around Japan that she's used that trick, or some variation thereof. Imagine the Tanuki trying that sort of thing! (and then imagine Aoshi finding out that Misao used to finance her quest to find him using that kind of method) Given that, it seemed to make a lot of sense to make Misao.. well, worldlier than Kaoru in some respects, even though she's still a year younger.

In this chapter I don't own: Technicolor (hey, it's a trademark!), the periodic table of the elements. I also don't own the "Schoolhouse Rock" song "A Victim of Gravity," although I was definitely thinking about it when I mentioned Isaac Newton, the apple tree, and gravity, and if _I _have to have "Schoolhouse Rock" songs stuck in my head all day, (Conjunction junction, what's your function?) I figured I might as well pass that along. I also don't own the Monty Python "Argument Clinic" sketch (with the line "Not necessarily. I could have been arguing in my spare time."). I think that's everything my wacky brain came up with in this chapter.

Reviewer Responses: Hi, everybody! I am so happy to have a bunch of new folks reviewing this week. Feedback and reviews are always great. And, sometimes people send cookies! Yay! Of course, sometimes they send Update NOW! ninja hamsters, but... they're cute and furry and generally just lurk outside the door... Oh, and I've had a couple of requests for more Sano and Megumi... hmm... I'll see what I can do, but it might take a couple of chapters. And, glad that people liked Aoshi's personality. Where Misao looks at Aoshi and knows what she wants and goes after it, I felt it was important for Aoshi to have that "I'm a monster; I would be bad for you; you should leave and never look back" moment. Of course, it utterly failed to work, but he did try (should have known better than to try something like that with a determined Weasel Girl). And, I apologize to folks I don't respond to individually; there are just too many of you! Which is of course a good thing, but I still wish I could manage everybody.

For Shannon's fanart... sorry! That was my fault, folks; I goofed up the address. Here, in all its glory, is the corrected version: http/www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/deviation/19028631/

And, more fanart! Another lovely take on the sneak dancing scene from the club, by Jade LightningWolf: http/jade-lightning-wolf(dot)deviantart(dot)com/

Nice emotions for both characters (Kenshin looks smugly cheerful; very appropriate!), and I really like the way she's done the club dance floor/background.

AngelWingsbaka: Kaoru: NO boyfriends! Nope, nope nope.

angiez: Hmm... can the cobwebs wait until the Halloween party? Because then they could add to the atmosphere and all.

Anne Novemberly: Thank you for the time and effort you put into your reviews, as always! Yup, a definite turning point—and this chapter is another one. Now Kaoru can no longer reign as Queen of Denial; she's got to face some facts, about herself and about what Kenshin's goals are.

animegurl23: Shishio:looks at the Owls and attempts an innocent whistle: No idea. Really.

Apathetic Empath2: Thank you! Getting attacked by icky lumbering quasi-demonic thugs is a definite bucket of cold water. Glad that you liked Aoshi's personality; it was fun to write (when that scene wasn't chortling gleefully as it went after my few remaining brain cells...).

apathetica:bows: Misao on caffeine and chocolate talking to Kaoru about the many virtues of demonic boyfriends... eek! Kaoru would probably rather face being back in Kenshin's apartment.

Battousai-chan: Kaoru doesn't want to have certain conversations with Kenshin. Well, any conversations with him, really. Besides which, as far as she was concerned, she had figured out what he wanted. Except now she's realized that she was probably wrong.

celest4: Welcome! And, thank you for the many compliments! –blushes—

chic chac: Hmm.. more male POV.. that is indeed a good idea...

cocovanilla: Thank you! I really wanted to get Aoshi's personality, which is kind of tricky, because he's just a tad repressed. Little bit. And, yes, the job was connected to Kenshin. Remember when Kenshin talked with Hiko about bringing somebody else in to help him with his hunt for Jineh? That someone was Aoshi. As for why they met at the club instead of Kenshin's apartment or someplace else.. two words: Kaoru. Towel.

Crimson Rayne: True, Aoshi is now very much not alone. And Kaoru.. um...well, you know, baby steps.

Desanera: Glad that you liked the attack shoe!

girl from ipanema: I'm sure that Misao would love to take on the task of helping to convince Kaoru. And that Kaoru would choke on her coffee and then try to strangle Misao with one of those little stirrer thingies.

guardian forever: Thank you! I liked writing in Misao's POV for a chapter; nice to get other perspectives on things, and give Misao stuff in her own life that will a) make it easier for her to relate to Kaoru and b) mean that Misao has more things to bug Kaoru about in terms of her relationship with Kenshin. Hee.

Indygodusk: Thank you! Kaoru is definitely thinking now (not happy about it, but thinking). It was indeed a surprise attack.

Jade LightningWolf: Well, you know, why unpack when you can be writing fanfic? ;-) And, love your take on the club scene! Lovely!

Kalasin: More singing Kenshin? I shall see what I can do... Aoshi really should trademark his serenity, shouldn't he... definitely a unique trait.

lolo popoki:giggles: Now there's a thought, Kaoru being totally calm about Kenshin being a demon and taking the wind out of Misao's sails...

luvHaru7: I like your image of Kenshin and Kaoru jabbing at eaach other... just because Kaoru has admitted to herself that there's mutual attraction doesn't mean she's HAPPY about it...

mutsumi: Thank you! I always appreciate it when folks say that they read/like "Moonlight" in spite of having misgivings about the whole demon thing. :-)

Nekotsuki:grins: Thank you! In terms of what called Kenshin away.. I suspect it was not unconnected to the lurking Owls. Not specifically about _them_, but... not unrelated. :evil authorial grin:

omasuoniwabanshi: Thank you for a lovely review! It was especially nice because those were things I was really hoping to accomplish in terms of Misao and her behavior towards Aoshi and so on. Hmm... in terms of the level of citrus... well, considering that the very first time I ever tried to write a "then he swept her up into his arms and kissed her with abandon" moment I quite literally got an actual nosebleed, it'sfor my own health, really... ;-)

Sally: Thank you! Hmm... this is true; both women seem to be dangerous with footwear...

Shattered Immortality: Oh, this Misao knew what she wanted, and she wasn't going to let a little thing like Aoshi being a demon change that.

skenshingumi: Thank you! Yup, Misao is.. well, granted, she didn't have to see Aoshi slaughtering a bunch of her classmates as an introduction to his demonic nature, which makes a difference, but she had already decided that he was the one that she wanted (where Kaoru really didn't admit.. I mean, didn't like Kenshin, even before the massacre).

steelphoenix: Whee! Fanart! I love seeing how folks visually interpret what I've written.

Strawberry'd: Um.. next chapter?

tomboi-chic: Thank you! I like to surprise.

Triste1: Hmm... :considers setting up anti-squirrel traps, using peanut butter:. ... That's a thought.. Although these are deuced clever squirrels... Hope that this chapter was more enthralling!

Via x Infinito: Thank you! Misao does indeed have a very different attitude about things than Kaoru does (on the other hand, she saw Aoshi being demonic for the first time when he was fighting off monsters, not slaughtering people, so.. makes a difference. Well, probably would have made a difference. On the other hand, Misao is Very Determined about Aoshi...).


	22. Unresting Thought

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have future chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty One: Unresting Thought

* * *

After years of experience, he had come to the realization that knowing your adversary was the most important thing. If you forgot that, he knew, you were likely to find yourself in difficult—even dangerous—situations. Like running down the street half-naked, trying to avoid serious bodily injury by a pair of high heels being thrown and/or brandished by an enraged once-and-future girlfriend...

Peering cautiously around the corner and along the hospital corridor, Sanosuke Sagara located his target and planned his approach.

Megumi was deep in consultation with two other doctors that he vaguely remembered having been introduced to at the last Christmas party. He didn't want to interrupt them, so he waited until the group broke up and Megumi headed down the hallway. Ducking out of sight, Sano carefully listened for her careful, even tread, preparing for the moment when Megumi reached the intersection. Then, he pounced.

Megumi let out a short yelp as he pulled her into his arms. Before she could react, he kissed her and then stepped back, leaving his arm around her shoulder as he cheerfully said, "Afternoon, beautiful. Miss me?"

"_How_ many times have I told you _not_ to do that when I'm at work?" she demanded, brandishing her clipboard threateningly in response to his cheeky grin.

"Yeah, I know, but I just love seeing that flash in your eyes. Can't resist."

Even though she knew that glaring at him would only encourage him, Megumi couldn't help it. She did try to limit herself to one quick glare before she pulled herself back into her normal cool composure.

"What are you doing here, Sano? Other than annoying me?"

'Wanted to see how you were doing. Got your message about having to work an extra shift, and so I figured I'd stop in while I was around and see how things were going."

The young doctor sighed, and Sano could see the faint dark smudges under her eyes from a long night's work. "Things are a bit more settled now, but... there was a bad traffic accident over on the west side of town. Multi-car pile-up, with the added bonus of trees and/or telephone poles..."

Sano responded by tightening his arm around her in a quick half-hug. He knew how tough situations like that were on her, and it sounded like this one might have been particularly bad.

"Survivors?" he asked, more to learn how much Megumi was going to have to deal with emotionally than anything else.

"No," she said softly. She let herself lean against him for a long moment, resting her head and just breathing before she continued. "The police said that it looks like there were two vanloads of guys heading back from some sport thing, mostly drunk, and the idiot who was driving the van in front was yelling at somebody on his cell phone while driving down the street like a maniac. Add a red light that he clearly didn't see, and some poor guy just trying to make his usual Sunday delivery to the restaurant he works at..." Megumi trailed off and sighed.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, Meg. I know how rough that can get. Look, I came by to tell you that when you're done, just head over to my place and I'll take care of dinner and everything."

Megumi turned to face him and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "And the dog? You know that I will not enter your apartment while that... that... slobbering, oversized, shoe-eating, hair-shedding menace is in the building."

"Ah, you know he just likes you." Sano said cheerfully. "Misao is picking Angel Marie up tomorrow..." Seeing the thunderclouds gathering in her expression, he hastily finished, "from Katsu's place."

Her eyebrows rose and she asked, "From _Katsu's_ place? How did you manage that one?"

"Called in a favor. So, foxy lady of mine, any idea when I might expect you?"

"I should be able to get out of here at five, maybe five thirty... can't say exactly."

"Well, just call before you leave, and I'll have everything ready. Bath, dinner, you name it. Katsu's got the bar tonight, so I'm all yours."

This time, Megumi was the one who kissed him, not caring that they were still in the hospital corridor. She gave him one of the brilliant smiles that always made him forget everything else and said, "I will call, I will be there, and thank you. Now get going, Rooster; some of us have actual work to do."

Sano grinned back and hugged her once more before he let her head back to work, keeping his arm around her shoulder for a few seconds longer, until they had rounded the corner and several other doctors were in sight.

Then, just because he liked to live dangerously, he let his arm slip down towards her waist and patted her on the bottom before he turned to head out the door.

The chance to see that flash in her eyes got him every time...

* * *

The nice weather made Kaoru more morose about her current lack of a bike, especially since there had apparently been an accident that meant she had to detour several blocks and then circle back around to the dojo. Fortunately, by the time she got home, she had managed to shift her focus to the match. She changed clothes in her room, making sure that the neckline of her gi was as high and secure as she could make it. To her mild surprise, it actually seemed to work. Uttering a small prayer of thanksgiving to the clothing gods, she headed over to the dojo. Yahiko was sweeping the porch of the dojo buildings when she walked over to that part of the house after saying a quick hello to their father where he sat going over the monthly accounts.

"Well, brat, ready to get pounded on?" Kaoru greeted him cheerfully, her bokken casually resting on one shoulder next to the strap of her duffel bag.

Her brother snorted at her. "Yeah, right, ugly. Hey, aren't you here early?"

"Need to warm up," she replied as she went in, "Don't have a bike anymore, remember?"

Yahiko shook his head in mock admonition, "My own sister, just another contributor to the air pollution plaguing our fair city. The trees are clearly crying out for revenge, and I am more than happy to help them!"

"Tell me, o noble defender of nature, what exactly is your bokken made of again?"

"Ah.. um... it was a willing sacrifice for the greater cause!"

"In spite of that, my heart remains unmoved, and you are still going to get pounded on," Kaoru replied sweetly. "Just give me a half-hour to warm up, and then prepare to meet your fate."

As always, running through her katas helped to clear her mind and bring much-needed focus. Here in the dojo, it was much easier than it had been in her living room, all of her memories of previous matches and training sessions permeating the room and giving her clarity. When she had her bokken in her hands and was training or fighting here, the world outside of the hall fell away and didn't matter. That was something she and Yahiko had both learned from their father. Today she was especially grateful for it. She appreciated having the structure to fall back on, the patterns of movement that stretched as far back into her childhood as she could remember, before demons and assorted other complications had entered her life.

"Hey! Ready for our match!" Yahiko called out as he entered the hall.

Shaking her arms out and rotating her neck, Kaoru turned and gave him a broad grin. "You better believe it!"

'_This is just what I needed today,'_ Kaoru thought with satisfaction as she began moving around the floor. _'After the last two nights...'_

The memories were lurking, but she kept them safely caged, devoting her focus to the present, to the match, the way her opponent moved and struck, the patterns of her own feet and the way her bokken felt like an extension of herself.

After years of sparring with each other, the two siblings knew each other's patterns as well as their own, easily moving into the fluid dance of their family style, move and counter-move, the bokkens clacking against each other in the rhythm of the match. Yahiko had almost reached the rank of Assistant Master, and was responsible for several of the beginner's classes, so it was reasonably even. As they fought, Kaoru could appreciate the confidence that he'd acquired over the past few years, the way that he had matured from the boy who would throw himself into a sparring match with her with no consideration of technique or thought of anything beyond pounding his opponent into the ground.

She grinned to herself. That meant that she didn't have to have any qualms whatsoever about not holding back.

Noticing an opening, she struck and raised an eyebrow as Yahiko yelped as he ducked out of the way.

"Doing alright?" she inquired

"I'm fine!" he replied, glaring slightly as he moved to his next attack.

"Glad to hear it!" Kaoru replied, moving her own bokken into position.

_...the weight of the pipe in her hand as she stood, tense, guarding herself as much as she could..._

Her smile dimmed for a brief moment.

'_Dammit! I will not get distracted by this, I will NOT!_'Kaoru thought fiercely, continuing the motions of the fight.

Her bokken connected with Yahiko's, sending slight shocks up her arms.

'_Grip, Kaoru, you are not ten anymore; pay attention to your grip!'_ Her anger with herself was real. Their father had raised them to focus on kendo when they were in the hall and sparring, not...

_...blood splattering across the floor as the sock connected..._

Her block of the next stroke was automatic, pure reflex honed over years of practice and tournaments. On the plus side, she noted almost absently that she had in fact managed to correct her grip in spite of her momentary distraction. Yahiko, fortunately, didn't seem to notice.

Kaoru tried to focus on her breathing, her footwork, the hold she had on her bokken, the way that the sunlight fell on the floor.

'_It's daytime. It's sunny, and it's daytime, and it's home... '_ she repeated as she continued to spar, turning it into a litany in her mind to keep herself in the present.

Not two nights ago.

Not in a cold factory where the wind whistled through broken windows and grinning figures with insane red eyes waited to grab and slash and...

'_DAMMIT!'_

She almost expected one of their bokkens to shatter with the force of contact as she swung. _'Good thing Dad makes sure to get quality equipment...and made us learn Kamiya Kasshin Ryu so well that neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor horrible demony memories could keep us from using it...'_

Kaoru hoped that Yahiko wasn't picking up on her distraction, because he would be sure to take advantage of it and also since she knew she'd never live it down if she lost after declaring that she was ready to take him on any day of the week.

'_More importantly,´_ she thought as she attacked with renewed focus and vigor, _'I refuse to let my little brother worry about me again! I prefer him to be his usual annoying self, thank you very much...'_

They were both sweating slightly by that point, but it didn't matter. They gave each other identical grins as their bokkens met, and continued with the match. Neither of them was certain how long they had been sparring; in fact, they barely noticed that their father had come in until he cleared his throat.

"Alright, you two; I have a class in here in another twenty minutes. You can keep going tomorrow if you want to, but right now, Yahiko, you sweep the room out; Kaoru, you go get the equipment from the storeroom."

"How come I have to sweep? " Yahiko asked, his expression a shade away from mulish.

"Younger apprentice, younger brother, and you didn't beat me," Kaoru said, "Besides which, quit complaining; _you_ don't have to haul all that equipment!"

"True," he conceded, "but I still hate sweeping more. Can't we just switch?"

Clapping him on the shoulder, she replied, "Get over it, broom boy. I had to do it when I was your age, you know."

She was halfway across the courtyard before Yahiko's math skills caught up with his brain and he yelled after her, "Hey! Hey! Kao-ru! When _you_ were my age, Dad declared that _I_ old enough to be trusted with sweeping duties! Aww, man..."

Kaoru grinned to herself. Sometimes, it was entirely too easy.

The storage room where the dummies and other equipment was had already been unlocked for the earlier classes, so Kaoru just went in. She looked around as her eyes adjusted to the half-light, watching the dust motes swirl in the sunbeams streaming through the small, high windows.

..._the patches of moonlight on the floor, darkened where Jineh's blood had been spattered, his severed hand resting at the edge of..._

She forced herself to take deep breaths, to calm her racing heartbeat.

'_I will not let this beat me; I survived the actual event, I'm strong enough to survive remembering it... I got through remembering everything with Battousai in high school, even if it took a long time to stop having nightmares. This isn't any different. I won't let this be any different.'_

Kaoru was tempted to deliberately try to carry too much at once, just so that the balancing act of wrestling everything over to the dojo would take all of her concentration. On the other hand, staggering into the training hall with two dummies, spare shinais under her arm, and a couple of different helmets balanced on her head would not only look ridiculous, it would make her brother and father instantly aware that she was trying to cover up something she was worried about. Instead, she concentrated on carrying exactly and precisely the normal amount, carefully, and paying great attention to weight and balance and not letting anything drag, any little detail that would require mental energy.

"Thank you, Kaoru! If you want to eat here, there are leftovers in the fridge, ok? Yahiko and I are going to have dinner after class, but you don't have to stay that long," her father said once she'd brought everything in, pausing in the middle of his warm-up.

"Leftover what, exactly? Which of you two is responsible for it?" Kaoru asked, one eyebrow raised. As impossible as it sounded, the standard of cooking in the Kamiya household had declined since Kaoru had left to go to college. Neither Yahiko nor their father really cared about food, and they were both so caught up in classes and the business of running the dojo that Kaoru was surprised they remembered to eat regularly at all.

'_One of these days, they're going to discover that astronaut food that just needs to be reconstituted, and I'm going to come home to find the entire kitchen full of those little plastic pouches...'_

"Don't panic, Sis!" Yahiko said from where he was putting the broom away, "Dad means it's leftover take-out food. And, yes, from last night. Um... although you might want to double-check, because I think there's still some stuff in there from last week..."

Raising one eyebrow, Kaoru asked, "Have either of you ever heard of the concept of, say, cleaning out the fridge? Radical new development, they've done studies and everything."

"The Kamiya Kasshin school works to encourage the development of potential and independence!" her brother declared, "We feel that when the food is ready to leave the refrigerator, it will do so on its own."

"Remind me not to help you when you are overrun by revolting leftovers," she muttered.

By the time the class was finished, Kaoru had managed to clean out the refrigerator, label the Chinese food from the night before with the date, and wash the dishes that had collected in the sink. It wasn't something she would normally have done; normally, she would have just stuck Post-It notes in several prominent locations and trusted to the power of sarcasm, but she was actively looking both for activity and a reason not to go home just yet, and vigorous cleaning always made her feel better anyway.

'_Maybe after I go home I'll scrub out the bathroom...'_ she thought to herself.

'_Because if I clean enough and wear myself out enough, I should be able to sleep soundly, right? Exhaustion can be a very useful thing... I learned that last time...'_

Yahiko didn't pause at all on his rapid dash through the kitchen to hit the showers, but their father slowed when he saw Kaoru, hair tucked back under a scarf, rubber gloves on, humming to herself as she wiped down the counters.

"Is everything ok, Kaoru?" he asked, "To what do I owe the privilege of getting maid service today?"

"Um..." _'Darn it, why does my family have to know me and my habits so well? Stupid involved parenting...'_ "Well, I guess I was looking for a reason not to go home just yet... I mean, I, um, kind of miss you guys, you know? And since I didn't bring any work of my own, and I didn't want to just sit around, I decided that it was my sworn duty to protect you from the danger of the evils lurking in the heart of your fridge. I mean, had you _looked_ in there lately, Dad? There was some pizza in there that was about to secede and set up its own independent protectorate, co-ruled with what I think must have been broccoli at some point."

"I don't think we had any broccoli..." he mused thoughtfully, then continued, "Honey, I know it can be tough being on your own for the first time, and you know that you can come back and visit any time that you want to, especially when you feel compelled to clean things. And, if there's anything else that you want to talk about..." he trailed off.

'_Well, let's see. Demons, and demonic weapons, and being kidnapped, and new uses for socks that I bet you've never thought of, and the Waffles of Evil, and friends who now think I have a boyfriend...'_

But she merely grinned and said, "Any idea how I could get my supervisor at school to agree to a unit on smoking prevention?"

"This is Mr. Fujita? The one who Yahiko says spends every moment not in the classroom in the Teacher's Lounge smoking like a broken chimney?"

"That would be the supervisor of whom I speak."

"You know, Megumi's got those slides..." he said.

Kaoru couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, trust me, I know. And soon I will figure out a way to put them to good use. Want me to set the table and heat things up while you and Yahiko get clean?"

"That would be great, sweetie; nice to have you over for dinner once in a while. We miss you too, you know." And with that, he headed upstairs, wiping his brow off with the towel he had slung over his shoulder.

Dinner was the most relaxing and fun time Kaoru had had in, literally, days. In spite of – or perhaps because of—the sarcasm and teasing remarks that flew back and forth between her and Yahiko, she hardly had any unhappy moments at all, aside from a single distressing sock-related incident.

It was nice having a car, she thought as she got ready to head back to her apartment. If she'd been there on her bike, she wouldn't have felt comfortable staying as late as she had, or she would have had to ask her dad to give her and her bike a ride back, and she hated to bother him on the night when he usually worked out the class scheduling for the upcoming week.

Out of habit, she looked in her room to see if there was anything else she wanted to bring back while she was at the house, but didn't find anything. The sight of Kenshin's clothes, balled up in a corner, gave her momentary pause, but she gave them an incendiary glare that unfortunately failed to have any effect, and left them where they were. She might clean out the fridge, but as far as she was concerned, if Kenshin wanted his clothes back, he could just wait until they slithered back to him on their own, having hopefully evolved enough intelligence to try to smother him on sight.

When she got back to her own apartment, she let out a long breath. She had been half-afraid that Kenshin would be there, or lurking in the hallway. In fact, she supposed she'd half-expected him to show up at the dojo and claim that he'd just happened to be in the neighborhood before groping her in front of her father and little brother and heading on his merry way.

Mechanically, she assembled everything she needed for the start of another school week, cleaning out her briefcase as she went.

'_Folders, attendance lists, binders; check. Calculator, pencils, one pen, two pen, red pen, blue pen; check. Notebook, graph paper... why is there a roll of masking tape in here? Well, I must have had a reason, so I'll just leave it... and thus it will be discovered years later, still unused and completely unexplained...'_

Kaoru looked over her closet and decided that wearing one of her new suits, with a new blouse, would get the week off to a happy start. A shiny, happy start, unencumbered by traumatic memories that were not directly academically-related. A shiny, happy, cheerful start that would remain strong in the face of curmudgeonly supervisors, snarky younger brothers, and the upcoming job search she wasn't allowing herself to think about just yet.

Looking down at her own clothes after she'd gotten everything out for the morning, Kaoru wrinkled her nose. She'd been so caught up in moving the dummies in the dojo and then cleaning up after the dummies in the house that she'd forgotten to shower after her sparring match. On the plus side, a shower would definitely help her to relax before bed, so she supposed she didn't mind too much.

One long, jasmine-scented shower later, Kaoru was relaxing in her bathrobe on the couch, hair wrapped up in a towel as she painted her toenails with Asphyxia, a pale blue-toned lavender that she had, in fact, stolen from Misao. She'd thrown in a mindless action movie with a touch of romance that was mostly there so she could treat it as comic relief, and was thoroughly enjoying the distraction. Once it was over, she stood up and stretched, shaking her hair out before she brushed it and put it into her usual braid. After one last round through her apartment to make sure that the door was locked, the windows were closed and locked, none of the burners were on, and all of the lights were off, Kaoru settled into bed with a sigh.

A good night's sleep would make everything all better, and a good week's work would put everything in perspective, and by next weekend, she would be ready to drag Misao out to a night at the movies and spend the night surreptitiously throwing popcorn at the idiot fratboys who always seemed to sit three rows in front of wherever they were sitting.

* * *

Kaoru smiled at the sun shining outside of the classroom. She had been right; everything was shiny and happy and off to a cheerful start. Even the crows, unless they were ravens, in the tree outside of the classroom looked cheerful as they perched and occasionally cawed to one another.

"Now, class, today we are going to talk about a very important theme, a theme that many of you will find very important in your own lives," she said, reaching for the box of chalk that was on her desk.

Going over to the board, she wrote, "THE NERVOUS SYSTEM" in giant capital letters that swooped across the board, making sure to get all of her lines straight and her flourishes curvy. Handwriting was an important component of teaching; it was next to cleanliness which was next to.. next to... something she could never remember, but she supposed it wasn't that important.

"Now, there's a telegraph line," Kaoru said, drawing on the board, "You've got yours and I've got mine—it's called the nervous system. And everybody understands those telegram commands, and you know that everybody...I'm sorry; was there a question?"

The only sound was the cawing of the ravens, unless they were crows, from outside the window, as they shook their ragged wings and shifted position, sniffing at the wind. Turning, Kaoru saw that the students were sitting there, perfectly well-ordered, grinning at her as they took precise notes.

There was something about those smiles that she wasn't sure she liked, but she smiled in return and turned back to the board.

"Oh, no, not again!" Kaoru groaned. The chalk lines on the board were slowly bleeding into each other, dripping redly down onto the floor with a monotonous plunking noise, all the lovely curlicues and flourishes and straight lines melting and really, was it so much to ask that the chalk stay where she put it for once? She was being graded on this!

"Mr. Fujita, the chalk.. " she started as she turned towards the window, where she could see her supervisor smoking and staring at the skeletal birds flying and crying loudly around the withered branches of the trees.

"I wish that they wouldn't do that all the time," Kaoru muttered under her breath, before she realized that the students were no longer in the classroom.

"Um.. did the bell ring? Was that the bell ringing? Because I was supposed to go to lunch, and if I'm late, I think they give you detention. The students seem to have left, and I hadn't finished the lecture yet."

The older teacher snorted, sending plumes of smoke shooting out of his nose. "Well, don't just stand there, Ms Kamiya! If you're out of students, go look in the closet and get some!"

Kaoru looked towards the back of the room, to the closet door standing slightly open. She really wasn't sure that she wanted to... but the sun was shining, and it was a bright and cheerful day, except for the skeletons, and how was she supposed to give a lecture without any students? So, looking back and forth, she sighed and headed towards the closet.

The door creaked loudly, like disused machinery, and she made a mental note to make a note of that so she could fix it. As she entered the closet, which seemed to have gotten a lot bigger than she remembered... although she wasn't sure that there had been a closet at all there last week, so she supposed that any closet was a lot bigger... she almost tripped over a bucket that some idiot had left there.

"Why don't people ever pick up after themselves?" she griped to nobody in particular, looking around for a shelf to put the bucket back where it belonged. The shelves were all full, though, with glass jars and plastic containers and heaps of things that looked like they were made out of rusted metal. There were labels on the shelves, but Kaoru quickly decided that they had no relation to what was there, since those certainly didn't look like any eyeballs she'd ever seen, even with the formaldehyde.

She was just reaching a hand out to start re-arranging everything when she found herself yanked backwards, into a classroom that seemed to have suddenly gotten dark, desks toppled and chairs strewn across the floor, and she looked up in shock...

...at something that might at one point have been Kenshin, but was now all sharp bones poking out of rotting skin and long red hair that hung limp and spattered with darker red, and sunken eye sockets that held darkness and faint amber fire...

Claw-like fingers tightened on her wrist as he gave her a rictus, skeletal grin full of pointed teeth.

"This... this isn't... I'm supposed to have a knife," Kaoru stuttered, "or at least a sock... you can't just go yanking people out of closets and expect..."

Paying no attention, the thing in front of her ran one clawed hand down the wall next to her face with a screech like nails on a blackboard.

"Poor little girl, lost and all alone," he said, in a voice like splinters of broken glass, "You should never have run away; it only causes problems..."

Her wrist was burning where his fingers touched her, and she stifled a scream as his other hand came far too close to her cheek. Her breathing was coming too fast, and she couldn't seem to get her thoughts in order, even though she knew she had to do _something_, she wasn't just going to stand there and let him dig his fingernails into her wrist enough to make it bleed...

... except that he already was, and she watched, fascinated, as blood dripped slowly onto the floor. She knew that it hurt, that it burned and cut at the same time, but the pain somehow hadn't really made itself known yet and she looked at it with a kind of detachment

'_Ooops...'_ Kaoru thought, _'And I was doing so well with this sort of thing...'_

He was dragging his fingernails slowly from her wrist to her elbow, a calm rhythm that left long red streaks in its wake, and there was a matching pain on her cheek as his other hand traced one long line and then another across it. The pain hit her sharply then, like needles, like acid that ate away at her skin and didn't stop at the boundaries of her wounds, pain that echoed and re-echoed even as he backed away and drew his sword with a hiss that slashed across her ears.

"Hold still, now" he said, "It isn't any fun if you don't play right."

Kaoru was panting as she leaned against the wall, her eyes transfixed by the light hitting the blade as it moved. With an anguished wail, she pushed herself away from the wall and ducked under the slash of his blade, crying out as the sparks it made when it hit the wall sizzled against her back.

Her feet were slipping in the puddles on the floor as she ran out into the hallway; she didn't want to think about the puddles, they weren't important right now, there were other things to think about, and if she was leaving a trail behind her, she couldn't stop to think about that either, she was running down the hallway, like she was always running down the hallway, like sometimes it seemed like her whole life was running down some damned hallway stinking of blood and death and rot and rust, never any way to end it or get out except through doors that led to searches for things that were sharp and damaging, but she was already damaged and didn't need any help, thank you very much, and she could still feel the cuts like razors across her wrist, on her cheek...

"Stupid, interfering,bitch!" a voice hissed out of the darkness, and she didn't have time for anything more than a scream that was shortened as something like barbed wire ripped across her throat, leaving nothing but choking agony in its wake.

'_Swords aren't supposed to do that,'_ some part of her brain commented, but it was drowned out in blood and pain and helplessness as she held her bleeding hands up to her bleeding throat and tried, really she tried, to do something, anything, but she couldn't, there wasn't even time enough to get out of the way as the sword struck, piercing her chest so that pain blossomed, white-hot, more than she thought was possible given what she was already feeling...

"Now you know what it's like," the thing that wasn't exactly Kenshin said, pausing to lick the blood off of the sword, "The rest, though, that's just a bonus, to make sure you're remembered..."

And as he raised his sword again, Kaoru backed into a wall that rotted and crumbled as she touched it, that somehow caught at her arm and held it. She didn't know how, maybe it was just in her head, but she started screaming when she saw the light on the blade, and couldn't seem to make herself stop, couldn't even take her eyes off the sword that was swinging down at her, again and again, and she struggled wildly, trying to move her arms, kicking in an attempt to get leverage...

_Kaoru!_

... her heart beating in panic, and blood everywhere, and that horrible frozen grin...

_KAORU!_

... fighting wildly against the way she couldn't seem to move, to evade the strike that she knew was going to kill her, and her screams were still echoing and re-echoing, which made no _sense_, but it didn't matter because...

_KAORU! KAORU!_

.. and she woke up with a sudden start, like the shock of cold water, trying to piece her surroundings back together like a jigsaw puzzle, fragments slowly becoming clearer.

She was in her bed, the moonlight streaming in through her window, and there was no pain, just an unfamiliar weight that she couldn't figure out, and a voice murmuring awfully close to her ear, low and soothing, words that she couldn't make sense of over the pounding of her heart.

'_Oh, good, I'm not dead...'_ Kaoru thought dizzily, _'That's a relief, because I think the students would pay even less attention to me if I was noncorporeal...'_

And then, as the shock of the sudden transition from sleeping to waking faded and the details of the nightmare filtered back into her consciousness, she opened her eyes and tried to curl up into a ball under the covers...

Only to find herself looking up into a pair of concerned violet eyes, red hair falling down onto her face, and realized that what she had registered as an unfamiliar weight was Kenshin, pinning her so that she could barely move, holding her wrists above her head and using his legs to cage hers.

"Are you..." Kenshin began as he let go and started to move so that he could sit up.

And Kaoru screamed and jerked away from him, stopped only by the headboard. She curled up and stared, wide-eyed, the lingering remnants of her nightmare in her expression as she took several panicked breaths and then buried her face in her hands with a low wail.

She barely registered a careful arm around her shoulders, that low, soothing voice again, a hand gently stroking up and down her arm, and the way that he adjusted her position so that she was leaning against him, her head tucked into his shoulder as he held her, rocking slowly back and forth.

"It's all right, you're awake now," Kenshin murmured to her, keeping his voice quiet. He wanted to add that she was safe and that he was here with her, but considering how her first reaction to seeing him had been less than positive, he wasn't sure it would help. She was still trembling and he could smell the salt of her tears. He didn't think that she was even registering their fall, and he was positive that she hadn't connected his being in the room with the arms around her and the voice repeating over and over that everything was alright now.

"Hush, kitten, it's alright now," he repeated, "I'm... you're... you're awake, in your own apartment, and nothing can get to you." He leaned his face against her hair and just breathed for several long moments, hoping that the steady rhythm of his heart and the pattern of his breathing would soothe her. He could already feel that her breathing was less shallow, more regular, and the slightly hiccupping sobs were dying down.

"It was just a nightmare, Kaoru, nothing that can hurt you, nothing but shadows," Kenshin said, "You don't have to worry about anything, you're safe."

She sniffled slightly and said, "You keep using that word... I don't think it means what you think it means..." in a voice still slightly choked with tears and hoarse from screaming.

He tightened his arms and rested his chin against her forehead. "It means that your dream was nothing but a bad dream and not anything that can hurt you in the real world. Shadows and bad memories, but nothing you need to fear."

"You don't even know what I was dreaming. Idiot." Kaoru murmured.

"I have a fairly good idea," Kenshin said, half-smiling against her hair. "At least for some of it, I have a fairly good idea." He adjusted his arms so that he could massage across her shoulderblades and at the base of her neck. "Now try to relax and get some sleep, ok, kitten?"

The noise she made in the back of her throat as his hands continued to rub where her back and shoulders were knotted and tense could best be described as a purr, and Kenshin dropped a string of kisses along her hairline almost before he realized what he was doing. She stretched slightly against him in a way that was definitely distracting and sighed so that her breath stirred his hair where it fell across his shoulder.

He kept massaging and making soothing noises to her, feeling the way that she slowly relaxed. After several minutes, Kaoru blinked sleepily and asked, "Are you... singing?" in a half-awake voice.

"Little bit, yes," Kenshin admitted, "Sleep, kitten; you've had a long day."

"No... fair..." Kaoru murmured as her eyes fluttered closed again and her breathing fell into the regular pattern of sleep. Kenshin kept running his hands up and down her back long after she had drifted off, then he moved them both so that he was lying down and she was curled up against him, head pillowed on his chest so that she could hear his heartbeat even in sleep.

Adjusting his arms around her, Kenshin kissed the top of her head and said softly, "Fair, kitten, is highly overrated."

Then he let out a deep breath, closed his eyes, and proceeded to fall asleep himself.

* * *

Next Chapter: The author, in a blatant attempt to make up for the low red-head quotient in the last couple of chapters, tosses Kenshin showerwards again.

Author's Note: I'm BA—ACK! I meant to mention that this chapter was going to take a bit longer, but I forgot to put it into the Author's Note last time. Too distracted by the hiding and the talking about Misao. I'm sorry that it wasn't up yesterday; I meant to finish it, but realized when I started falling asleep onto the keyboard that it was perhaps time to go to bed. AND we are finally out of the Weekend that Would Not End—seriously, it started with Chapter 13, where Misao came over Friday evening to... err... ."help" Kaoru with dressing for the club, went through the club, and kidnapping, and rescue, and waking up, and fleeing, and so on.. and next chapter, ten chapters later, it will finally be Monday morning! Good grief. And, no, the entire fic will not be running on that kind of timeline.

In this chapter: I don't know why I keep giving Kaoru "Schoolhouse Rock" songs in her nightmares... I really like them! They're good! And except for the one with the skeletons, not at all scary! Ah well. I also don't own that particular part of the "Feng Shui" arc in the "Rurouni Kenshin" anime where Kenshin basically faces off against a decayed, semi-skeletal version of his past self, but I did borrow some of the general idea. And I don't own any referernces to King Arthur as the "once and future king" (from Sano's "once and future girlfriend" line), Dr. Seuss's "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" book, or Asphyxia, which is another Urban Decay color (although when I went to double-check it, they seem to be out of stock). Nor do I own the Wordsworth poem "The Two Trees," which talks about the ravens of unresting thought, or Loreena McKennit's beautiful version of it. And I still don't own "The Princess Bride"... yet! Bwa ha ha!

Reviewer Responses: WHEE! Yay:General firework and bell-ringing noises: 1,000 reviews! Hard to believe it! It makes me so happy that so many people have reviewed. And, thank you to those who congratulated on the high number of reviews; it is pretty darned cool, and amazingly flattering. As always, feedback and commentary are welcome; and requests are often useful. For example, look! A Sano and Megumi scene! And.. um.. more Kenshin coming up! Really! Umm.. cookies are also appreciated (because otherwise all the squirrels would get hungry).

Some individual responses (quickly, because I am already posting this later than I wanted to, alas):

AkaiNeko-Chan: Cute little purring-type snores? Perhaps. I think it's a general "adorable cuteness with sharp claws that you just want to cuddle and take home and keep" kind of nickname. No dustbunnies in the new apartment.. just rabid lurking plotbunnies. Aoshi did indeed get called in to help with the hunt for Jineh.. and then got called to help with clean-up duties afterwards. For answers to "What was Kenshin thinking when..." stay tuned!

Anne Novemberly: Thank you! Um... Misao's dress in the date scene...This is true, I didn't really describe it in detail... between the shopping chapter and the date chapter, it's clear that it is dark green, with intricate beading (black, although I don't think I said so directly) on the bodice, and cap sleeves. The skirt has a black tulle underskirt, which means that it's kind of poufy... and I figured it was between knee-length and tea-length, so the bottom hem would be somewhere a bit above mid-calf. More of a Misao-type dress than any of the others. Yes, Angel Marie is male. It would have been funny to have Aoshi and Kenshin as roommates, indeed. I would say that there definitely is Demon Wine (well, if you can have Demonic Waffles... hee...), and you have to admit, it sounds like a detail Aoshi would want to make sure was absolutely perfect for their first date. In terms of the date conversation... I just liked the idea of Misao speaking in paragraphs and Aoshi speaking in short sentences. And Misao.. well, you know Misao; first of all, she would have an opinion about the software for the library computers no matter what her actual job was; the library is HER project, so she is going to get involved in every aspect of it. And, yes, Kaoru did refer to Killer Bluez as a former warehouse building in an earlier chapter. I shall weasel out of the warehouse/factory references by saying that it was a building that was both—big brick building, factory on one floor, storage/warehousing of manufactured product on another, etc. There's actually a specific building that I based the club on, and it used to be a three-story tobacco warehouse, if that helps.

Apathetic Empath: She has made some progress; probably about as much as can be expected for one session of intense thinking about things. Although the end result might have been more confusion. Hee.

Asica: How neat to have somebody interested in translating this! Glad that you like it so much. Feel free to translate it for a friend; if it's going to be posted anywhere, let me know, ok?

Crimson Rayne: Attracted? Yes. Happy about it? No. Even the parts involving snuggling.

Hitokiri Musei: Welcome to the cast! And, yes, more Kenshin next chapter.

Holly:shakes authorial Magic Eight Ball: Answer to first question: Yes! Answer to second question: Bwa ha ha!

Indygodusk: Kaoru has probably put the exact composition of that salve on the list of "Things I Don't Want To Know About," indeed.

Jade LightningWolf: It was a little shorter than usual, I think. About ten pages. This one was about twelve or thirteen, I think.

jainga: Oh, dear... I hope that this chapter doesn't cause dreams, because they could get quite creepy...

Kathryn Angelle: Kevin Smith? I am flattered! Thank you! I, alas, have not had a chance to see "Batman Begins " yet, but am eagerly looking forward to it, and particularly to how it compares to "Phantasm." Also cool to hear that the Animated Series is out on DVD!

lolo popoki: Well, Kenshin did say "maybe next time"... he would hate for her to think he doesn't follow through on things...

Mallovoriel: Thank you! It is really nice to know that folks who don't generally have anything to do with anime are also enjoying this story. It makes me feel better about what I'm doing with it to know that it's got crossover appeal that way.

Nekotsuki: Look, it's various Kenshins! Well, I suppose Evil Dream Kenshin doesn't quite count...

omasuoniwabanshi: Thank you! I really wanted to give Kaoru time without crazy friends or various demons breathing down her neck. And, yes, recipes are always welcome! Those in particular sound yummy.

Peachie-Chan: Hmm.. threatening to throw Kenshin into a pit of rabid fangirls might be something Kaoru can keep in reserve...

Shattered Immortality: Yay for educational fanfiction! And, look, Kenshin is back!

Silver Hanyou1: No, Kenshin really does have a habit of cheerfully ignoring Kaoru much of the time.

Sinner: I know; I write a lot of responses. Not until I've finished the chapters, though (and I try to write chapters of 10-15 pages, which I think works fairly well). Thank you so much for the compliments and the comparison!

skenshingumi: Oh, yes. Much potential. :evil authorial eyebrow waggle: Especially now that Kaoru has admitted the attraction.

tesuka-chan:cheers for architecture studies:

Triste1: Thank you! Ah yes, staying up late on account of fanfic.. I know it well...

Universal Fighter: Hmm.. I'm really not trying to make Kaoru sound at all dumb; she just tends to think about things a lot, and sometimes sends herself in circles. Also, you have to remember that she's had a lot happen to her in a short period of time; the girl has got a lot to deal with.

Waffles01: Well, Saitou is of course Kaoru's supervising teacher (and thus Yahiko's science teacher)... under the name of Goro Fujita, of course...

YingRui: Thank you! I am very flattered that you read and liked this without knowing the anime or manga. I highly recommend them both; they are fantastic (as well as the first OVA, "Trust and Betrayal"). However, I do have to say that "Moonlight" Kenshin is different in many important ways (aside from the obvious "anime/manga Kenshin is not a demon" part), mostly having to do with how direct he is... well, anime/manga Kenshin can definitely be direct as well, he just often isn't. If that makes sense.


	23. Bound and Determined

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty Three: Bound and Determined

* * *

Kaoru knew in the back of her mind that there was something she should be bothered by, but she was too comfortable and warm to focus on it much. Focusing meant moving, and she was so happily floating in a kind of boneless state of relaxation that she really couldn't bring herself to do either.

There was something familiar about her state of relaxation that she also knew should be bothering her, but it seemed to be just barely out of reach. She exhaled and attempted to burrow into the pillow, but the pillow didn't seem to want to cooperate. In fact, it chuckled.

Wait... that couldn't possibly be right. Kaoru opened her eyes suspiciously, and found that for the second time in three days, she was looking at Kenshin's chest.

'_Oh, crap...'_

Now that she was more aware of her surroundings, she realized that his arms were around her—again!—and that the two of them were curled up together in her bed.

"Damn it, Kenshin, stop that!" she spat out as he refused to let her roll away from him.

The only response she got was another low chuckle and something that felt suspiciously like he was nuzzling her hair. Maneuvering one of her hands, she smacked him on the shoulder. Several times. Then she said, "I have to get up and get to work! And why are you here in the first place? And... _ohmygod what time is it!_"

This last was said in a tone of definite panic as Kaoru connected the light streaming in where her curtains didn't quite meet to the probable angle of the sun in the sky and what that said about the lateness of the hour. She struggled and was seriously considering smacking him some more, when Kenshin calmly replied, "I don't know what time it is, exactly, but don't worry about work; you've called in sick."

"I did _what?_" Kaoru exclaimed, ceasing momentarily in her efforts to get free. "Well, I guess I must have been pretty sick indeed, if I don't remember actually _calling_ them!"

"Calm down, kitten; I talked with Sai—with the school, and explained that you had accidentally given yourself food poisoning, but that you would be fine tomorrow."

"_Food poisoning!"_

Feeling someone shrug while you were lying on top of them was definitely an odd experience. "It needed to be believable. Now, did you want to shower while I make breakfast?"

"No, I do _not_ want to shower while you make breakfast. I want to shower while you are someplace far away from here!" She finally managed to sit up as she said it, glaring down at him as he lay back against the pillows, perfectly at ease. His smug expression made her want to hit him, but she was fairly certain that he was just waiting for her to try it so that he could catch her hand and smirk.

Gritting her teeth, Kaoru got out of bed, keeping her eyes on Kenshin as she grabbed for her bathrobe. Even though the oversized shirt she had worn to bed was reasonably decent, she still felt exposed. The way that Kenshin kept darting glances down to her legs wasn't helping. On the other hand, at least she could be thankful that she'd fastened enough of the buttons to cover the telltale marks on her neck. With as much of a dignified stomp as she could manage, Kaoru headed to the bathroom, locked the door, looked around to see if there was something she could brace it with, considered wrestling the small cabinet by the sink over into position, and discarded the idea on the grounds that she would then have to wrestle it back. Instead, she concentrated on showering thoroughly, to get rid of any traces of her nightmare or the way that she'd spent the rest of the night after that. The bathroom was full of steam and the scent of jasmine by the time that she had finished, but Kaoru didn't care.

The scent of fresh coffee and something that Kaoru was fairly sure was French Toast made her bite her lip as she peered back into the other room. She had hoped that a long shower would encourage Kenshin to leave, not to cook. On the other hand, she had just realized that she had neglected to bring any clothes with her into the bathroom, so she supposed knowing that Kenshin was in the kitchen was better than Kenshin lurking in her bedroom, leaning up against her pillows with his shirt all unbuttoned and his hair tousled with sleep...

'_Damn it! Of all the stupid images to get stuck in my head... why couldn't I be thinking of something normal, like global warming-related coastal flooding or the social problems of modern youth?'_

Since she was apparently called in sick for the day--- Kaoru scowled again as she pulled on her socks—there was no need to get dressed up professionally. In fact, she deliberately picked an old flannel button-up shirt and a faded pair of jeans. The goal was completely boring and casual. Instead of putting her hair into its usual ponytail, she braided it again and put the braid up with a barrette so that loose bits of hair stuck out in random directions. Then, just to be on the safe side, she wrapped a scarf around her neck, under the collar of her shirt.

When she came into the kitchen, Kenshin was pouring the coffee, having already set the table. Two pieces of French Toast were on each plate already, steam rising gently from them as pats of butter slowly melted on top.

'_Oh, not again... the waffles were bad enough...now the French Toast...I really don't want any more annoyingly tasty breakfast foods to have to deal with.'_

The fact that the entire kitchen smelled of cinnamon and vanilla and coffee—and since when did she have cinnamon and vanilla? -- did nothing to help Kaoru's resolve not to be affected by her breakfast. Neither did the fact that the French Toast tasted just as good as it smelled.

"How's the French Toast?" Kenshin asked, once again acting as if everything about the morning was perfectly normal.

Waiting until she'd swallowed, Kaoru said, "I don't understand where you got the cinnamon and vanilla. Or the eggs. Or the milk. No, wait, I had milk. Or the bread, then."

He grinned at her and replied, "I went back to my place and got everything. Including the milk, by the way, because what you had... well, let's just say it put up some resistance to being taken out of the fridge."

"Why?"

"I suspect it was because it was it had been in there for way too long. I'm not quite sure how that could happen, since you haven't lived here for that long, but trust me, it needed to go."

Tightening her grip on her coffee mug, Kaoru said, "Why did you make French Toast, idiot? Why did you make anything resembling breakfast, why are you here, and, come to think of it, how did you get into my room in the first place?"

"Breakfast is an important meal," Kenshin said with perfect sincerity, belied only by the slight amber twinkle in his eyes. "And as for the reason... you were having a nightmare, kitten."

"Yes, I noticed that," Kaoru returned evenly, "And it really isn't any of your business that I can see."

Something determined crept into his eyes as he replied, "When things that you had to go through because of me end up causing you nightmares, then, yes, Kaoru, it is my business. I refuse to let you go through something like that all by yourself."

"What I go through is also none of your business," she retorted. "You think the nightmares aren't something I've been through before? They go away. Eventually."

"Well, I'm here to help them go away faster," Kenshin said smoothly. His smile turned serious as he said, "Just because you had to go through this on your own once doesn't mean that you have to do it again."

"It seems preferable to the alternative!" Kaoru muttered under her breath. She had a feeling that the conversation was getting away from her and she didn't entirely like it. True, she had come to the realization that Kenshin might be... that his interest might be... Well, at any rate, even if she'd come to the realization, she clearly was having trouble wrapping her brain around it, let alone finding a way to broach the issue with Kenshin. And that was even assuming that she _wanted_ to broach the subject, instead of ignoring it and hoping that she was wrong and that Kenshin had some other motivations for his actions, like a plot to take over the world or some kind of statistical study on the behalf of the demon world.

"Going through this on your own," Kenshin returned, interrupting her train of thought, "is not acceptable. You can't expect to be functional, let alone at your best, if you can't sleep. And you can't sleep if you keep getting plagued by dreams that have you so distressed that it's enough to pull me from a sound sleep several rooms over." He came over and squatted down in front of the chair Kaoru was sitting in, his expression serious as he looked into her eyes. "You're the one who pointed out that Jineh grabbed you because of me. The least I can do is make up for it by helping you get over the stress."

"It's not helpful when your helping causes more stress!" Kaoru shot back, "Do I have to stick to words of one syllable to make it clear? I will get past this on my own, with no help from you. You don't have to make up for things; just leave. I. Don't. Want. You. Here."

"Ah," Kenshin murmured, reaching a hand up to touch a tendril of her hair which had escaped to curl along the side of her face and down her neck, "But I like being here, kitten. I like waking up with you curled around me the way that you do."

"I do _not_..." Kaoru interrupted, indignant.

Ignoring her, Kenshin continued, "I like hearing the way that your heart beats in time with mine, and I like the way being close to you makes jasmine drift through my dreams..." Kaoru suddenly realized that he had gotten a great deal nearer, and stared, transfixed, at the shifting colors in his eyes. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry, and she couldn't seem to string a sentence together to distract him. Her breath caught at the feel of the back of his hand running slowly down her cheek, at the way his gaze went to her lips, still slightly parted from her half-finished sentence and the way that she was breathing. Kaoru wondered idly if there had been something in the French Toast, because her thoughts seemed to be moving slowly, almost disconnectedly. She knew that Kenshin was moving forwards, but couldn't seem to tell her muscles to move past the warmth that seemed to be pooling low in her stomach at the look in his eyes. She wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't leaning towards him as well, tilting her head slightly as she felt his breath ghost across her lips a second before he was kissing her, taking utterly unfair advantage of the way that her lips were parted, catching the noises that she found herself making in the back of her throat as the feel of Kenshin's mouth cherishing hers sent sparks along her veins.

His hands were running through her hair, tracing patterns on her shoulderblades, the feel of his fingers leaving lingering trails of warmth across her skin as he moved his hands in slow strokes down her arms. She moved to reach for him, but he was still holding her arms, moving his hands to her elbows, down to her wrists, and carefully undoing the buttons on her cuffs as his thumb stroked across the pulse point in one wrist. Kenshin leaned in so that his chest pressed against hers, all the while kissing her, his tongue flicking against hers in a way that erased every coherent thought, everything except her need to lean closer still, to respond in kind to the movements of his lips, his tongue, the way that he seemed determined to explore her responses to him, the way that she couldn't think of anything except...

_Click_

'_What...'_ Kaoru thought as she registered the sound a moment before she realized that the warmth of Kenshin's fingers around her wrists had been replaced by something cold and smooth, something like... metal. Startled, she tried to move away from it, but found that she couldn't move either of her hands more than a couple of inches, and that moving one pulled the other along with it. She jerked away from Kenshin and tried to move her hands again as she realized exactly what he had just done.

"YOU RAT BASTARD!" Kaoru shouted at full volume, "I can't believe you, you... you _handcuffed_ me to the chair! I'm going to strangle you with your own ponytail, after I figure out a way to gut you with the salad tongs and feed your intestines to the cat, you asinine, arrogant..." Her words trailed off into something like a snarl as she aimed a solid kick at him. Unfortunately, the result was that she overbalanced slightly, and Kenshin had to catch the chair before it toppled. He even managed to stay out of the way of her feet as he stood up, leaning over to look down at the way her eyes were flashing fire at him with a smile that made her growl and try to kick him again.

"I have to take a shower, kitten, and if you think I'm giving you the chance to run off again, you are _very_ much mistaken," Kenshin said.

"_You handcuffed me to a chair!"_ Kaoru yelled, before launching into a detailed description of what Kenshin could do with himself, his thoughts, and various kitchen utensils that had him raising one eyebrow and blinking before he grinned broadly. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers mid-rant, moving away again before she could manage to bite him.

"Would you prefer to join me in the shower?" Kenshin asked, "Because that would be your other option at the moment. I don't trust you not to run off, and there's no way that I'm going to let you try something like that again. There are some things that we need to deal with."

"Unless they involve you meeting a horrible and long-overdue demise, I am not interested," she spat at him with a mutinous glare. "And whether I chose to leave _my own apartment_ or not is my business, not yours. Go use your own shower—it's much nicer—and leave me the _hell_ alone, you... you..."

"Now, now, kitten; behave yourself. Just relax and I'll be back in a little bit." And with that, ignoring the extremely creative invectives directed at his back, Kenshin left the kitchen and headed off towards the shower.

He didn't bother to lock the door; in fact, he left it open a slight crack, so that he could hear it if anything unusual was happening in the rest of the apartment. Kenshin wasn't stupid enough to believe that Kaoru was going to sit quietly in her handcuffs like a good little girl and wait for him to come back and undo them.

The bathroom smelled of jasmine and Kaoru, and Kenshin inhaled appreciatively as he hung his clothes on the peg by the door. It was... comforting, although not exactly _relaxing_ in the normal sense. In fact, it made part of him wonder why he'd decided to handcuff Kaoru to a chair in the kitchen rather than following through on his threat of having her join him in the shower. He looked under the counter for more of the plain soap Kaoru kept next to the sink to wash her hands and also found a bottle of shampoo and conditioner that didn't have any scent to it. Kenshin smiled; not that he minded the scent of jasmine, far from it. It was, however, a much better scent on Kaoru.

As he turned the water on and adjusted the temperature, he caught a glimpse of Kaoru's towel hanging on the rack.

'_Kaoru, running out into her living room, damp hair tumbling down her back, wrapped only in a towel that really covered barely enough to be considered decent... the curve of her breasts clearly visible, and the length of her slender legs... '_

That had been a sight worth having to clean up the mug of tea he'd dropped when he'd seen her. Kenshin had been completely transfixed as he watched her pacing as she'd spoken on the phone. It had impressed him that she had been able to maintain both a grip on the phone and her precarious hold on the towel. Impressed, and slightly disappointed.

Standing under the water, Kenshin wondered if Kaoru had had any idea what she had looked like at that moment. Or later in the club, with those pants that fit her like a second skin, and that top that showed off the muscles of her stomach and gave such tantalizing glimpses of cleavage. Somehow, he really doubted that she did. There had been something about her that had been... well, the best word that he could think of for it was "innocent," a non-awareness that was the obvious result of a lack of experience. Misao's words drifted through his memory.

"_What? I'm just happy; I mean, I was starting to worry that Kaoru was going to be a virgin forever!"_

Kenshin smiled to himself as he lathered up the shampoo. He had to admit, the perky turquoise-eyed girl's comment had been something of a shock—possibly even more for him than for Kaoru. Although, remembering Kaoru's shocked expression, the squeaked choking noises that she had made and the way her jaw had gone slack, he doubted it. Her expression at that moment had rivaled the one she'd had when she'd felt his hand in her back pocket.

'_I don't know why it surprised me...'_ Kenshin thought, _'In high school she didn't really do anything except go from school to the library to the dojo, and she must have been the same way in college to finish her degrees so quickly... not to mention the fact that, if her general reaction to being in that club was any indication, she doesn't like that sort of thing now any more than she did in high school...'_

Leaning into the water to rinse out his hair, he considered what this might mean for his own future actions. Once he'd gotten over his initial shock at Misao's statement, he'd actually been happy that she'd said something. Kenshin had never understood the obsession so many human men had with being a woman's _first _lover when it was obviously so much more important to be the one who was permanent. Frankly, he had expected Kaoru to have had some experience already, and there was a not inconsiderable section in his list of things to do once he'd found her again that dealt with boyfriends, actual or potential, and the quickest, most practical, most permanent ways to take care of them. Knowing that there wasn't anybody serious in Kaoru's life had relieved him; knowing that there never really had been anybody like that... well, it explained some things.

Turning off the water, Kenshin paused momentarily at the sound of a loud crash from the general direction of the kitchen, followed by several colorful idiomatic phrases that would have made Sano blush. He considered calling out to her, but decided against it, since he would be able to hear it if she managed to make it out of the kitchen. And if he heard any noises that indicated that she had, he was going to go out there and drag her off to whichever room he decided to at the time, regardless of what he was or was not wearing. On the other hand, he supposed that he should hurry. No point in giving Kaoru even more time to get furious, assuming that she even had a level past apoplectic.

He had several ideas about how he could convince her to forgive him... but, especially considering Misao's recent revelation, he supposed that he would have to wait a while before implementing them.

After roughly towel-drying his hair, Kenshin pulled on his jeans again and headed out to the kitchen, moving silently on bare feet, senses alert for, say, attack furniture. When he reached the doorway, he had to stifle a laugh at the sight that met his eyes. Kaoru had managed to topple the chair over, breaking it into several large pieces, and had then managed to get the handcuffs off of the chair. However, since her hands had been cuffed behind her, she was still working on standing up, the expression on her face indicating that she was also running through possible ways to get the handcuffs off. He found her look of concentration endearing, a reminder of the way that Kaoru always approached difficult situations and put everything she had into getting herself out of them.

"That doesn't look at all comfortable," he observed casually as he came into the room, careful to avoid the bits and pieces of chair scattered across the floor.

She started and turned to glare at him, her jaw set and her eyes sparking. "Oh, I'm sorry," Kaoru spat at him, "I didn't realize that you were interested in my being _comfortable._"

'_Why couldn't he have taken a longer shower?'_ she thought to herself _'I only needed about ten more minutes, assuming I remembered everything Misao told me about how to get out of handcuffs...'_

Kenshin appeared to have thrown on the same pair of jeans that he had been wearing before, his damp hair hanging loose over bare shoulders. Looking up at him from her position on the floor was a very strange angle, and she didn't at all like the faintly amused twinkle she could see in his eyes at her predicament. Making a very annoyed, half-growling noise, she braced herself to try to stand up again, but before she could even fall over, she found herself being righted easily as Kenshin pulled her carefully onto her feet and let her lean slightly back against the kitchen table for support. Even after she was standing, however, he didn't move back, and she found herself staring at his bare chest and shoulders. She knew that her breathing was slightly heavier than normal, the result of her attempts to free herself and a side-effect of the way her breath had been slightly knocked out of her when she'd knocked over the chair to break it. Absently, she registered that Kenshin still smelled like ginger and something wild and outdoorsy, even though she knew she didn't have anything in her bathroom that smelled that way.

"Now, kitten, if I take these off, do you promise to behave yourself?" Kenshin inquired. She promptly kicked him in the ankles for sounding so amused at her predicament, not to mention being the reason behind her predicament in the first place.

"I don't think that that counts as behaving," he remarked with a slight grimace.

"You deserved it," Kaoru snapped at him, "What you did was _completely_ unfair, and underhanded, and unnecessary..."

"Are you saying that you wouldn't have tried to run off again while I was in the shower?" Kenshin raised one eyebrow as he spoke, clearly skeptical. The way that she bit her lip and blushed slightly was enough of an answer for him. "There, you see? You were going to run away from me again, Kaoru, and you know it."

"Ninety percent of our relationship is me running away from you!" Kaoru said, her tone shifting from anger to exasperation. Then she let out a shriek of surprise as she found herself picked up and spun around twice, Kenshin's arms firmly wrapped around her, before he kissed her lightly and set her back down, still not releasing her. She blinked and tried to process what had just happened, still feeling slightly dizzy, either from the spinning or his proximity, she couldn't tell. When she looked up at him, Kenshin was grinning broadly.

"That, kitten," he declared, "is the first time that you've admitted that we actually are in a relationship."

'_Wh—what?'_

"It... I... I did _not_ mean... we aren't... you can't..." Kaoru stuttered. '_Oh... crap..._' This was worse than the mall. Much, much, much worse, if the amber sparks in Kenshin's eyes were anything to go by. "Wh. what are you _doing_?" she finally managed as Kenshin shifted position slightly and his expression took on a thoughtful cast.

"Well, I am getting ready to kiss you, _very_ thoroughly," he answered, moving one arm from its position around her and running his hand up her arm and across to her neck," and then I plan on investigating exactly why you've decided to wear this lovely scarf that really doesn't match the rest of your outfit." Her pulse jumped as he ran one finger under the edge of the scarf that she'd put on that morning, and he smiled in a way that made it jump again. "And after that..." he murmured, already leaning forward so that she could feel his words ghosting across her lips, "...well, after that, I thought that I might improvise... Kaoru"

This time, there was something more urgent in the press of his lips against hers, the way his mouth moved against hers making her feel like sparks were shooting along her nerves. She felt his hands on her wrists again, and heard the metallic clatter as the cuffs fell to the floor, only half-registering what it meant, understanding it only in terms of her ability to wrap her arms around Kenshin, reveling in the feel of his bare skin under her hands, the way she could feel him responding to her touch. It caused a fleeting sense of surprise to know that it was because of her; she had never thought that she could do that. But her surprise was rapidly lost to the other feelings running through her veins.

He undid the knot on her scarf after he had finished with the handcuffs, feeling the silky material slide loose and then dropping it to the floor. When he pulled back from kissing her, Kaoru made a protesting noise in the back of her throat and looked up at him with dazed eyes. "Don't worry, kitten," he murmured, kissing along her jawline and catching her earlobe in his teeth so that she moaned and arched against him in a way that sent heat racing down his spinal cord. "I'm nowhere close to finished yet."

Pulling back the collar of her shirt slightly, he smiled and made an approving noise at the sight of the marks along the base of her throat before he bent his head again to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, lightly tasting her skin. "You smell delicious," Kenshin murmured against her skin, "You always..." his words trailed off as he pressed his lips against the rapidly beating pulse in her neck. Kaoru was clinging to him, her hands running up and down in random patterns on his back, soft noises falling from her slightly open mouth. She was bent slightly backwards, and he shifted his position so that he could lift her up to perch more comfortably on the table, pulling her body as close to his as he could manage, feeling the way that she trembled slightly at the heat of their contact. Kaoru whimpered and closed her eyes, seeing sparks of color behind her lids as Kenshin kissed her again.

His hands were running up along her sides, slow, careful motions that spiraled through her, and Kenshin groaned deep in his throat when he reached the curve of her breasts. Kaoru made an answering noise at the feel of his hands on her, arching into his touch, a pleading gasp all she could manage in response as he caressed her. She could feel the warmth of his hands through her clothes, the careful friction of his touch causing her to clench her fingers on his shoulders and press her mouth urgently against his, losing herself in the need that was shooting through her. When one hand traced the notch in her collarbone and undid the first two buttons of her shirt, she made a sound of approval and want.

If she'd thought that Kenshin's obvious hunger meant that he would be hasty or impatient, she soon found that she was wrong. Rather than immediately finishing undoing her shirt, he traced calloused fingers slowly across the now-exposed skin, following the scalloped lace at the top of her bra. Kaoru pressed against him in a way that was clearly meant to encourage him, seeking more contact. She could almost feel Kenshin's smile and hear the affirmative half-growl deep in his throat as his hands moved...

The loud ringing noise that suddenly sounded throughout the confines of the room took several seconds to work its way through the fog of sensations Kaoru was wrapped in. In fact, she registered the way that Kenshin had suddenly frozen in place and tensed under her hands before she heard the noise again and understood the reason why. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers for several slow breaths before he disentangled himself, turned and walked over to answer the phone.

Kaoru couldn't quite make out what he was saying under his breath, but he didn't sound at all happy. In fact, if the way he almost ripped her phone off of its hook was any indication, Kenshin was the opposite of happy.

She found that her breathing was unsteady, and she could still feel warmth where Kenshin had been touching her, the scent of him still lingering. As Kenshin faced away from her and gave curt answers to whoever had just called, she tried to piece her thoughts back together from wherever they had scattered.

'_I... we... well, he said he was going to kiss me, and he definitely... not that this means that we are actually in a relationship, because that is not what I meant... oh, good grief... did I leave those marks on his back?'_

Mentally running through recent events, Kaoru was forced to conclude that, yes; those were fingernail marks on Kenshin's back. In other news, her mind observed that she was still sitting on the edge of the table with her shirt partially unbuttoned, and rounded things out by casually reminding her that Kenshin had had to disengage her leg from around his waist before he'd answered the phone.

She blinked. Kenshin had answered her phone? Not only that, he was talking with whoever had called. Well, he was listening to _them_ talk, his shoulders tense and his entire posture aggravated. Misao's words from the day before came to mind...

'_...didn't seem happy about it... sounded like he was having trouble getting a word in edge-wise, and he got the funniest little wrinkle between his eyes...'_

Kaoru couldn't see whether or not Kenshin had a wrinkle, but if the way he was standing meant anything, plus the fact that he clearly was _trying_ to say something but failing... It sounded like Kenshin's mysterious caller from the previous day had called again. On _her_ phone, and Kenshin had known who was calling when he answered.

Frankly, Kaoru was fairly certain that if he hadn't known, or if it hadn't been important, Kenshin would have completely ignored the fact that the phone was ringing in the first place. The fact that Kenshin knew, and had answered, and the fact that someone she was fairly certain was a complete stranger to her had called for Kenshin...

This was clearly one of those demon-type things. In fact, Kaoru had a sneaking suspicion that whoever was calling just might be...

Kenshin sighed as he hung up the phone. While it was definitely not the worst possible timing—his brain was even now insistently producing scenarios where his Master's voice would have been even _less_ welcome—it was still enough to make him grit his teeth throughout the entire conversation. To an even greater degree than he usually would, that was. Fortunately, there had been much less sarcasm then usual, since the message itself was fairly urgent. Kenshin really didn't want to have to explain to Kaoru why her phone had been ripped out of the wall and then tossed through her kitchen window. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and turned around to where Kaoru was just descending from the table. It didn't help his state of mind to notice that she still hadn't buttoned her shirt back up.

"Kaoru..." he started, "I... I'm sorry; I have to go."

She cocked her head to one side and quietly asked, "Orders?"

Kenshin blinked, then nodded. "Yes. How... how did you...?"

"You and Jineh mentioned them in the factory, and you had to leave after that phone call the other day," Kaoru explained with a shrug. She bit her lip, clearly trying to figure out how to phrase the next question.

'_How did they do interrogations in all of those old war movies Dad used to watch? On the other hand, those always seemed to involve things like dark rooms and uncomfortable chairs and handcuffs and bright lights and people being slapped across the face with leather gloves while someone is saying, 'Ve haf vays of meking you talk...'and I don't have any of those, unless I ask to borrow Kenshin's handcuffs, which seems improbable..'_

Before she could get past the stage of biting her lip and furrowing her brow, Kenshin murmured with a smile, "I should have known that you'd notice things like that, even under the circumstances..." Then, in a more normal tone of voice, Kenshin said, "There are still things that we need to talk about... I don't know how long this will take, but... when I get back, we're going to have that discussion."

After several moments of looking at him, Kaoru nodded. "Alright. That... that sounds like a good idea."

Letting out a breath he was only half-aware he'd been holding, Kenshin went back into the bathroom and put his shirt on. When he came back out into the living room and started towards the door, Kaoru was standing next to it, staring down at the floor and clearly thinking intently.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, kitten," Kenshin said, leaning in to kiss her forehead and then stand, leaning against her, for several long seconds. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face and smiled. "Try to not get into too much trouble while I'm gone, ok?"

"You're one to talk about trouble," Kaoru muttered. She stared after Kenshin as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Then, before he could finish taking a step, she blurted out, "Kenshin?"

He stopped, clearly listening even though he wasn't looking back at her.

Swallowing, Kaoru asked, "Back then... in high school, what you did... was that also... was that also because of orders?"

After a moment's hesitation, Kenshin nodded. There was a brief moment when she thought he was going to say something, but instead, he simply walked into the hallway and carefully closed her door without looking back to make eye contact.

And Kaoru was left staring at the door, her thoughts whirling in several directions at once.

It looked like she was finally going to get some answers.

Even if she wasn't entirely certain that she was going to like what those answers turned out to be.

* * *

Next Chapter: Kaoru Kamiya Presents: The Top Ten Ways To Distract Yourself While Waiting For A Discussion You Might Not Want To Have In The First Place.

Author's Note: Look! Punctuality! And Kenshin! And Kaoru! And Kenshin-and-Kaoru! And French Toast! And an author who really ought to cut down on the caffeine! Whee!

Special Review Question: OK, a reviewer has expressed concern (thanks!) about the rating of this story, namely, worry that ffnet might do horrible things to it because it might exceed PG-13. I thought that I might take an informal poll and see what folks think; I've been trying very hard to keep things PG-13, but if it hasn't been working, I would rather raise the rating than incur the wrath of the ratings patrol.

In this chapter I don't own: The old RCA slogan about "His Master's Voice," with Nipper the Dog tilting his head to listen to a gramophone. Nor do I own handcuffs. Or, at the moment, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, or eggs. Hmm...

Reviewer Responses: Hi everybody! Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I am now back on a more regular update schedule, at least for the rest of the summer. Barring weirdness, blackouts, or squirrel attacks. The reviews and feedback continue to make me very happy, and help me know what works and what doesn't, and what folks want to see. Thanks to everybody who has reviewed! I wish that I could write back to everybody, but there just isn't time. To those of you wanting more Misao and Aoshi; yes, they will be back, individually and as a set. And, as you can see, Kenshin and Kaoru have at least arranged to have The Discussion, even though they haven't gotten around to actually having it yet. Oh, and for those who are wondering, I am not sure how long "Moonlight" will end up being, but am guessing that it's probably about halfway through.

Quick individual responses:

AngelWingsbaka: Thank you! The number of reviews continues to startle me.

Anne Novemberly: Thank you! Glad that the nightmare (the first one) was appropriately creepy. I really wanted to show that Kaoru is in fact having to work through recent events, just as she had nightmares after the incident in high school (they happen between chapters, so to speak, but she refers back to them at one point).

AnyaRei: Um.. well... too much "Rurouni Kenshin," too much "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," several readings of Wombat's brilliant crossover piece "Edodale," and then a first sentence that would NOT get out of my head. Combine that with very good friends who loved the concept and the couple of pages I had put together and who kept bugging me to keep writing and then post it, and there you have it. Oh, plus lots of caffeine.

Cobaltsky:strikes heroic pose of onward-going-ness:

fantasy angel victoria: Glad to hear that the chapter cheered you up; sorry to hear about your dog! Hope that this chapter answered questions about why Kenshin showed up... as for how... shorter version of the kind of thing he did to get from the nightclub to the dojo when he was heading to get his sword back.

Holly: You're welcome! Um... gosh... hard to say how long it's going to end up being, although I would guess we'll hit the halfway point in a couple of chapters. Or thereabouts.

Indygodusk: Thank you! There was no deliberate Harry Potterness (am sadly, shockingly, horribly behind in reading Harry Potter...), but it might have slipped in unintentionally. I actually did not know that phrase before learning it from you.. .although I learned it in "Hakama Daze," which I :embarassed: have yet to review.

Jade LightningWolf: Ah, actually, the Feng Shui Arc is only in the anime. It's part of the season they did instead of/while waiting for the Jinchuu Arc to get written. And, feel free to be inspired to draw! Including a showering Kenshin. Hee.

Kathryn Angelle: Thank you! I am having lots of fun putting all the references in, so I am glad that folks are enjoying reading them.

kitsmom: Hadn't actually thought about it, but it would kind of fit with the standard "Kenshin no baka!" from the original. Hee.

Larie-chan: Well, Saitou.. I mean, um... Mr. Fujita... is Kaoru's supervising teacher at work. And somebody who clearly knows Kenshin, in ways that have yet to be explained (see Chapter Twelve).

lisiegirl: Hmm.. I shall have to find that song. "Evil Ways" does indeed sound like a good soundtrack choice. And "Beautiful Stranger" for some reason reminds me of Misao meeting Aoshi in the club, which works well.

lolo popoli: Thank you! I was aiming for creepiness.

Miharu Kawashi: Thank you! And look, more Kenshin!

NalaravatheRed: No... she was not happy. Well, once she woke up enough. And, yes, that was Kaoru dreaming, mixing up various things she's had to try to deal with during the day.

omasuoniwabanshi: Glad that the nightmare was appropriately horrible! Kaoru's got a lot to think through, and what she can't get to during the day shows up during dreams. And, no, she was not too happy about Kenshin as her pillow. Hee.

Shattered Immortality: "Az-fix-ee-ya" It means unconsciousness due to lack of oxygen, because you can't breathe. Seemed appropriate after what happened with Jineh, and the nightmare Kaoru was about to have.

skenshingumi:giggles: If only Kaoru could focus on the waffles and lunches and rescues instead of the pesky "demon who I killed after he massacred classmates" part...

sueb262: Thank you! I am really trying to make this an atypical demon fic. Glad that you liked the nightmare, and could see the various bits and pieces in it.

Sugar Crazed Duckie: Long reviews are fun! I enjoy reading them! If you go back to the earlier chapters, there are links to some great fan art pics for the story, including one of Battousai with Kaoru's ribbon (by the fabulous Dragonsdaughter), that show Kenshin in modern clothes.

tomboi-chic: Hope that you had a great vacation. And.. gah! Don't feed the squirrels! Don't feed the squirrels! That means they have to spend less time foraging for food and have more time to lurk and stare and mutter! Eek! ;-)

Triste1: Darned sneaky grammatical errors... :wonders if she can blame the squirrels: I am glad that you liked the way Kaoru tries to deal with her problems, and the way that they sneak up on her in spite of that. I really felt it was important to show that yes, she does have trauma to deal with afterwards, even though she is able to be resourceful and focused during the traumatic events.

Universal Fighter: That's a good suggestion, thank you! We are getting to important discussions and revelations, never fear!

Viz x Infinito: Kenshin at least would definitely agree with you. Sadly, circumstances seem to keep getting in the way. Glad that Sano seemed in character!

YGORKInufan: Well, Kenshin is very sneaky. The skeletal Kenshin is actually a borrowing from a dream/hallucination sequence in the Feng Shui Arc in the anime.

YingRui:blushes: I am glad that you like this Kenshin so much! He's a lot of fun to write.


	24. Flock Together

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty Four: Flock Together

* * *

Kaoru scowled down at the mangled carrot in front of her as if it was responsible for all of her current problems. In fact, if the poor vegetable hadn't already been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated, it probably would have burst into flames from the expression in her eyes. Her concentration was broken by Yahiko's voice, coming from the direction of the stove.

"Umm... hey, sis? Is béchamel sauce supposed to be crunchy?"

Blinking, Kaoru dragged her thoughts back to the present and turned to face her brother. Yahiko's expression was skeptical as he looked down at the contents of the pot and poked at it ineffectually with the serving spoon. Sighing, Kaoru went over to the cupboard and opened the door.

"It'll be fine after we pour it through the sieve, Yahiko. How's the pasta coming?"

"Don't know. What's it supposed to look like when it's done?"

"Spaghetti-colored. Go get a fork and taste a piece if you're not sure. And if I catch you throwing it at the wall to see if it sticks, I'm telling Dad that you weren't paying attention during practice today."

She really hoped that he didn't call her bluff on that. If anybody hadn't been paying attention during their sparring today, it had definitely _not_ been Yahiko. In fact, Kaoru considered herself lucky that it had apparently gone unnoticed, and was profoundly grateful that their father had been supervising a joint practice with another dojo on the other side of town.

A week. A whole week since Kenshin had left after that call. A week where Kaoru found herself starting every time a phone rang and spinning around whenever she saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. A week during which she had tried, and failed, to figure out how she felt about Kenshin's presence. Or his absence. The bits and pieces of information that she'd learned during their last meeting didn't really do anything to help her. And the discussion that Kenshin had promised... The one good thing about him being gone, even if "gone" was secret code for "off using his newly re-acquired sword in horrible and creative ways," was that it delayed a conversation Kaoru wasn't sure she would ever be ready to have.

'_Nothing like the prospect of an upcoming heart-to-heart with your demon wannabe-lover to make a girl feel calm, cool, and collected as she goes about her daily routine..."_

So far, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever they were going to be discussing had resulted in a chemistry experiment demonstration that had almost dyed the classroom floor shamrock green, a promise to Misao that she would look after Angel Marie for a weekend, and hopelessly traumatized root vegetables. Not to mention the fact that she felt like she had barely slept since he'd left. While she hadn't had any more nightmares that were more horrible than the old standby of wandering down her high school hallway to discover that she was about to have a test that she hadn't studied for where the penalty for wrong answers was apparently being called up to the front of the auditorium and sliced into pieces in front of the other students, she still found herself unable to get to sleep at night and spent long hours staring at the numbers on her clock as they slowly progressed.

Then there had been two other dreams which, while Kaoru wasn't certain they could be classified as "nightmares," had definitely not been conducive to a good night's sleep. Not to mention that she'd woken up from both of them with a vague sense that her pillow was supposed to be warmer and more solid and smell of ginger. It was, she thought, vastly annoying that it had taken her measurably longer to get back to sleep on those occasions than after her nightmares.

When she wasn't conspicuously not sleeping, Kaoru found that her days kept her significantly more tense than normal. First of all, she kept looking nervously over her shoulder every time she entered or exited her apartment building, on the lookout for red hair and smug expressions. Second of all, her supervising teacher had developed a baffling tendency to find reasons not to leave the building until she herself was heading out the door. If it had been anybody else, she would have called his behavior "hovering"... but that seemed so inappropriate, considering who she was talking about. All in all, it was no wonder that Kaoru was frustrated and tired and a danger to innocent vegetables. Well, more of a danger than normal.

At least Yahiko was unlikely to notice that the carrots weren't up to Iron Chef standards. And if he did, she could distract him by making comments about the spaghetti. Speaking of which, Kaoru realized that she should keep an eye on her little brother to make sure that he didn't do anything irreparable to their dinner.

"Hey! No, wait, Yahiko; drain the spaghetti first, then strain the sauce! Trust me; you don't want bits and pieces of the sauce to get mixed in with the spaghetti. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any point in pouring the sauce through the sieve in the first place, right?"

"Should I be frightened that you're giving me cooking advice that actually makes sense?" Yahiko asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Very, very possibly," Kaoru replied calmly as she got out the plates and silverware.

Since the spaghetti came from a package and the sauce came from a jar, dinner was actually reasonably edible. The fact that the salad looked like it had lost a valiant battle against a weed whacker went uncommented-on by both siblings. Yahiko offered to help clean up the kitchen, but Kaoru, who had a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Fujita was going to take out the strange mood he'd been in all week on the students by means of a pop quiz, told him to go study.

"Are you sure? I mean..." he trailed off uncertainly. After years of being asked, ordered, and threatened, Yahiko was well-trained when it came to sharing dish duty.

"Yes, Yahiko, I _really_ think it would behoove you to spend a little extra time on your homework tonight."

"It would be what?" he asked, puzzled. Then his eyes widened and he nodded rapidly in dawning comprehension. "Um... well, if you think that I should be... I mean, if you think it's a good idea, and you're sure you don't mind doing the dishes..."

"I have a hunch," Kaoru said, "Call it a gut feeling based on previous experience, ok?"

"Right!" he said. Without wasting another minute, Yahiko turned and sped off to his room, leaving Kaoru to deal with the dishes and her thoughts.

No matter how much she tried to keep the latter under control, they kept winding back to the same basic question: _'What am I going to do if he doesn't come back?'_

After a week to think about it from every conceivable angle, Kaoru was annoyed to find that not only did she still not have an answer to that question, she hadn't even been able to figure out what the question itself meant.

What was she going to do if Kenshin didn't come back, because that meant he was probably doing something horrible?

What was she going to do if Kenshin didn't come back, because that probably meant something horrible had happened to him?

Should she be angry and frightened that he had gotten his sword back, or relieved that he at least had his sword with him?

Would time away give him more space to reflect and decide that there were other girls he'd rather be backing into corners... and why wasn't that thought making her happy at the prospect of her life becoming less complicated once he wasn't randomly turning up?

The one thing that was easier about Kenshin being around, Kaoru reflected, was that it at least gave her a target to aim her annoyance at. When he wasn't there, her anger tended to get distracted by memories of things that he'd done that were...well... not annoying... exactly... just...

...distracting...

Kaoru yelped as she realized that the dishwater was overflowing out of the dishpan and that the kitchen was about to be overrun by bubbles.

'_OK, Kamiya, repeat after yourself three times: Distraction is not my friend, distraction is not my friend, distraction is NOT my friend...'_

Muttering under her breath, she got the water and soapsuds cleaned up and yelled up to her brother that she was heading back to her apartment. Seconds later, she heard him clattering down the steps, two at a time.

"Hey, Kaoru? Can you give me a ride over to the library? I just got off the phone with Yutaro, and, well, we thought it might be good to study together for a couple of hours, until they close."

"Sure, but... how will you get back to the dojo afterwards?"

He shrugged. "If we leave a note for Dad, then I'll call him from the library and have him pick me up. No big deal. And, um, if your hunch is right... well, two heads are better than one, and I would hate for Yutaro to be caught unprepared..."

Kaoru smiled. No matter how much her brother and his lab partner loved to insult each other, it was obvious that Yahiko felt it would be unfair not to share the possibility of a pop quiz with his friend.

"No problem, brat; just be ready to leave in five minutes. I am not a taxi service."

"Please, ugly, I can be ready in three." And with that, Yahiko tore back up the stairs and grabbed his backpack, throwing his textbook and binder in with reckless abandon before he raced back down to where Kaoru was putting her jacket on, having scribbled a brief note to their father.

She ruffled his hair affectionately, and then was out the door before he had a chance to respond. Rolling his eyes, Yahiko turned out the light and locked the door as Kaoru walked over to her car. He loved his sister, really he did, and he was glad that she was feeling better after whatever it was that had happened that weekend. Yahiko still didn't have the details, but he was waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Kaoru had some pretty strong ideas about protecting her little brother, never mind that he wasn't some kid anymore, and Yahiko knew that he was going to have to be fairly sneaky if he wanted to get any answers out of her. The short ride to the library might not leave much time for him to get anything out of her, but he could at least try.

Planning his attack with the same concentration that he used when getting ready to spar, Yahiko began, "Hey, sis? Yutaro said his Dad could get the three of us special passes to see that exhibit at the History Museum. You know, the one about swords and sword-making through the ages? He said that since his Dad's company is one of the major sponsors, he could get us in the day before it actually opens. That way, me and Yutaro could get a look at suff without a bunch of stupid schoolkids... I mean, those elementary class tours... getting in the way. It would be great for our project!"

Kaoru grinned. She should have known that Yutaro would persuade his father that something like that would be a good idea—purely for the sake of research, of course. The boy was just as much of a fan of historical swords as her little brother. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been Yutaro's passion for the subject that had inspired his father to sponsor the museum exhibit in the first place!

"That would be a lot of fun, Yahiko. And, yes, I'd love to go along with you—as long as Yutaro's Dad got me a ticket so that I could make sure you two didn't start fencing in the exhibit hall, and not because he thought it was a way to get in good with his son's teacher."

"Sheesh, ugly, don't worry so much; of course it wasn't—hey! What makes you think that Yutaro and me can't behave ourselves?"

Kaoru giggled as she turned a corner. "Because I know how obsessed the two of you are with all things sharp and pointy; why else would you have picked sword construction and forging as your big project topic, hmm?"

"Speaking of swords... so, Kaoru, why did Grandpa put those paper charm things all over that old sword you had hidden under your bed?"

For a second, Yahiko thought his grand interrogation plan was going to be cut short by Kaoru crashing into a mailbox. However, she quickly got herself and the car back under control and, in a voice that betrayed very little tension, answered "What do you mean? I mean, why would there be charms on a sword? It was just paper, Yahiko, because I didn't want the fancy sheath and stuff to get damaged."

He snorted and crossed his arms. "Oh, right, you think I can't recognize one of Grandpa's charms when I see it? Have you forgotten that I'm the one he used to chase around the house with them whenever I had a cold? And that time I brought home that puppy? Kaoru, I'm not stupid. You brought a sword home from somewhere, and then spent a day with Grandpa in your room, which you know neither of us would have normally _ever_ done, no matter _how_ sick we were. Then it turns out that there's a sword under your bed—a _real_ sword, not a practice one—wrapped up in so many of Grandpa's crazy paper charms that he must have put them together specially just so he could have enough."

Kaoru's fingers were clenched so tightly on the steering wheel that her knuckles were white. Her mouth was drawn into a tight line as she stared at the road almost without seeing it. Under other circumstances, this would have made him nervous; however, at the moment, it was exactly the sign he was looking for.

Pressing the issue, he continued, "And all I had to do was tell that to Kenshin and he immediately knew where to look for that sword, Kaoru. How did he know that?"

"I..." Kaoru started, then stopped and drew a deep breath. "Yahiko, this is really not a good time to have this conversation." Before he could open his mouth to protest, she kept going. "But... but you're right, Yahiko; you deserve an explanation. Only promise that you won't tell Dad, ok? It would only worry him, and there's no reason to."

Yahiko considered for a moment before he said, "Ok... I promise I won't tell Dad. It seems like it's going to be a complicated story, and there's no point in worrying him. But you'd better explain everything soon, or all promises are off, agreed?"

"Agreed," Kaoru answered, relieved. He was right; he deserved to know, after having been the one to help Kenshin find his sword. However, until Kaoru had had that discussion with Kenshin, she wouldn't have complete answers to give to Yahiko.

'_Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay... two conversations about demons and their swords that I really don't want to have...'_

Yutaro was already waiting outside of the library, watching the sunset, when Kaoru pulled up to the entrance. She considered kissing her brother goodbye, but knew it would just be in order to embarrass him and so contended herself with saying, "Take care of yourself and don't do anything I wouldn't... I mean, don't do anything like staying out too late on a school night, ok?"

"Sheesh, ugly, you worry too much!" Yahiko snorted as he got out of the car, swinging his backpack around to carry it on one arm. He waved at Yutaro, and the two boys headed into the building together, talking animatedly about something or other. Kaoru smiled to herself as she drove out of the parking lot. She was glad that her brother had friends he could study with; it kind of reminded her of herself and Misao back when they were in school together.

She sang along with the radio as she drove back towards her apartment. After she got gas, she looked at the clock and decided that she had time to do some grocery shopping before she headed home. In keeping with her standard strategy, she bought fresh fruit that she could cut up and have as a snack, whatever frozen dinners were on sale that week, mineral water, fruit juice, and several different jars of tomato sauce to go with the pasta supplies she'd gotten on her last grocery store run. Her cereal supplies were still ok, but she stocked up on coffee on general principle. As she was heading towards the checkout lane, a familiar voice called out, "Hey, missy—what are you doing shopping so late, hmm?"

Turning around, she grinned cheerfully and said, "Well, you know, when it comes to grocery shopping, I prefer to just wait and see when the mood strikes me and then take care of it, rather than trying to plan things. What are you doing here, Sano?"

He shrugged. "Just got off shift at the bar; Katsu's closing tonight, so I figured that I would deal with grocery shopping for the week. Hey, do you still have that crockpot you borrowed from Megumi?"

"It's _my_ crockpot, Sano. She's the one who keeps borrowing it from me."

Sano blinked. "You have a piece of kitchen equipment that's not a microwave, blender, pot, or pan? I'm shocked."

Slightly miffed, Kaoru said, "What's so surprising about—look, you put the food in in the morning, turn it on on low, and when you come home at night, your dinner is all done. I'm a big crockpot fan, especially in the winter. Although I've never tried anything complicated. The instruction manual had a recipe for stuffed quail."

"Please don't ever try that, under any circumstances," Sano implored. "Anyway, whoever the crockpot belongs to, could Megumi borrow it from you this weekend? She keeps muttering something about finding the time to start making chicken broth and freezing it for the winter... it's a little disturbing, actually, but the results are always tasty, so I try to go with the flow."

"Sure, Megumi can borrow the crockpot. Again. Although tell her I don't understand why she doesn't just buy one, ok?"

"Oh, she's got one. Did I mention that this is going to be a Project? As in, all weekend, chicken broth simmering in as many crockpots as she can borrow from friends, I'm going to be staying far away until it's over, Project?"

"Ah," Kaoru said, nodding. She was familiar with Megumi's cooking-related Projects. Sano was smart to have an escape planned. "Well, how soon does she want it? I mean, you can swing by tomorrow afternoon, maybe around four, if that works."

"That'll be fine!" Sano assured her. The two of them spent a while catching up while Sano shopped and Kaoru criticized his nutritional choices.

By the time that they left, the stars were glimmering in the night sky and Kaoru could feel the faint nip of autumn in the air. She inhaled deeply before she remembered that fresh air was not usually to be found in the vicinity of supermarket parking lots.

'_Ugh... motor oil is definitely not one of the scents of the season...'_

Balancing the groceries and the day's mail, Kaoru headed up the stairs to her apartment. She had taken a quick shower after that afternoon's practice, so that meant she could spend an hour or so working before she turned in for the night. Since she didn't have any class work for the evening, Kaoru had decided to spend her time on her _other_ research project. While Kenshin had been away, she had tried to organize whatever other information she could learn about him—the way that he seemed to have no difficulties getting into and out of a locked dressing room, for example, or showing up in her bedroom. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the fact that it was apparently her nightmare that had woken him up and called to him, but she had made a note of it nonetheless.

'_The most important thing that I need to do right now is come up with questions to ask him when we have our... discussion... I mean, what were his orders in High School? Were they the same in Sano's school? What is he up to now? Where did he get that other scar on his cheek, when neither of the other wounds I gave him scarred?'_

Kaoru sighed as she unlocked her door. The same questions kept going around and around in her brain, even after she'd written them down in an attempt to get rid of them. In fact, the more questions she wrote down, the more questions she seemed to have.

'_Well, I suppose we at least will have plenty to talk about...'_ she thought as she went to put the groceries away and get ready for bed.

'_Fresh fruit into the fridge, frozen dinners into the freezer... wow... I think the frozen dinners have been multiplying in my absence; I hope that these all fit... note to self; no more frozen dinner purchases in the near future... sauce in the pantry... books onto my desk... Kenshin on my couch... coffee next to the coffeemaker... wait a minute...'_

Kaoru blinked. _'One of these things is not like the others...and I don't think it belongs here...'_

He was sprawled out and slightly curled around the pillows like an oversized cat. If she wasn't so annoyed that he'd found his way into her apartment without so much as a by-your-leave, especially this late, she would have found it almost... cute.

'_He better not be drooling on my pillows...'_

Sighing, Kaoru tried to figure out what to do next. Kenshin was back, but it didn't look like he was in any condition to have a productive discussion. Truth be told, neither was she. What she really wanted to do was make herself a cup of tea and sit down to keep working on her notes for another half-hour or so before relaxing with some light reading and the news, and then attempting to get some much-needed sleep. The problem was, of course, that it felt extremely odd to sit at her desk and write things like, "How long did it take to get over being dead?" when Kenshin was in the room with her. She bit her lip thoughtfully and approached the couch.

"Um... Kenshin?" Kaoru began, "You should wake up and go home now, ok? I mean, I'm glad to know that you're back..."

She blinked. Glad to know...? Stopping a few steps before the couch, Kaoru thought about what she had just said. Was she glad to know that Kenshin was back?

Well... yes. Although, as she was quick to remind herself, that could just be because if he was sleeping on her couch it meant that he wasn't out wreaking havoc. It didn't necessarily mean that she was glad that he was on her couch, just glad that she knew where he was and what he was, or rather, what he _wasn't_ doing. Kaoru nodded resolutely. That made sense.

She moved a pile of magazines out of the way so that she could perch on the coffee table and continue her efforts to wake Kenshin up. Up close, she could see his chest rise and fall with the rhythm of his breathing, and the way his hair was falling over his face. Kaoru frowned slightly. She was fairly sure it wasn't her imagination that his skin was even paler than normal, throwing his scar into sharp relief, and there were shadows under his eyes that hadn't been there before.

'_What on earth has he been doing to himself? He's supposed to be all demonic and have supernatural abilities and that sort of thing... he looks worse than I used to after a night of cramming for a calculus final...'_

"Kenshin?" she tried again "You're on my couch, you know. I was planning on using it at some point, and that's going to be difficult if you stay there... So you should wake up now and go home, ok?" Getting no response except something that might have been a vague murmur and a slight shift in his position, she tried poking him in the shoulder. Then she poked him again, harder.

Nothing happened.

'_Still dead to the world... so to speak,'_ Kaoru thought with a trace of exasperation. _'And I can't very well throw a bucket of water over him while he's holding my couch hostage...'_ Absent-mindedly reaching her hand out to smooth his unruly bangs away from his face, Kaoru remarked, "You know, I really don't see wh--eep!"

Whether it was her voice or the feeling of her fingers, something in Kenshin had clearly registered that she was there, because Kaoru suddenly found herself sprawled on top of Kenshin on her couch, his arms around her as he tucked her against his chest and made a noise that sounded sleepily content.

'_Darn it, I am NOT a teddy bear!'_ Kaoru thought to herself in annoyance. Out loud, she said, "Kenshin! Kenshin, you need to wake up. And let go. Mostly let go, and then if you really _want_ to stay here on my couch, which is nowhere near as comfortable as your bed... um... I mean, I imagine... well, I mean, I _know_ that it's not, not that I've been thinking about it, and... Kenshin, you can't possibly be _so_ exhausted that nothing I've just said woke you up to make sarcastic remarks!"

The only response that Kaoru got was a slight shift in Kenshin's position so that he was even closer, and his breath stirred her hair. Her legs had somehow wound up half on the couch as well, and Kaoru winced as she realized that she was going to have to bring them up the rest of the way or face severe back pain in the morning. Grumbling under her breath, she adjusted herself so that her legs were comfortable. The fact that she kicked Kenshin in the ankle as part of the process was not even entirely on purpose. However, instead of waking him up, it resulted in him moving one of his legs so that it lay over hers, so that she was being very thoroughly and completely cuddled.

"Oh, great, and I thought you were annoying and clingy when you were awake," Kaoru groused. "You know, you can't expect me to just take this lying down... I mean, you can't expect that I'm just going to lie here and..." she broke off with a yawn. '_Dammit... what is this, some kind of sneak demonic sleepiness attack?_'

"Ok, Kenshin, just because I can't kick you properly doesn't mean that I can't figure out a way to wake you up. And the only reason I'm not screaming is because it would hurt _my_ ears, and because I have a suspicion that you are the type of guy who'll go from asleep to attack in 0.1 seconds and I don't want to deal with that if I startle you. I'm saving it as a last resort in case my other brilliant tactics fail... although, if you grope me in your sleep, mister, you'd better believe that I'm going to scream!"

Fortunately, Kenshin's hands showed no inclination to migrate in his sleep. Letting out a sigh, Kaoru tried to think past the sound of his heartbeat echoing through her and the way that he still smelled of ginger and wilderness in spite of his obvious exhaustion. She poked him a couple more times, even though she couldn't really get a good angle with the way he was cradling her against him, and tried to see if she could get her hands on enough of his hair to yank on it.

She yawned again and shifted to make herself more comfortable before realizing what she was doing.

"Ok, now _that_ is just ridiculous," Kaoru said firmly, still hoping that her voice would poke Kenshin into wakefulness if she couldn't manage it any other way. "Alright, Kaoru, you can do this; just think of it like jujitsu... just a martial arts exercise in getting out of a hold..."

She squirmed slightly in her attempt to find a way to get the leverage she needed, then froze as her efforts resulted in Kenshin's arms tightening around her, one hand slipping far enough down her back that she let out an involuntary squeak and had to work to calm the suddenly rapid beating of her heart. Catching sight of the clock on her wall, she glared as if it was responsible for how much time had passed since she'd started trying to wake Kenshin. Yawning again, she rested her head and tried to think. Since her brain seemed to keep making comments about how warm and comfortable it was right where she was rather than helping her come up with a plan to get out of the situation, it took some effort. Especially since Kenshin's reaction to her resting her head seemed to be to tuck his own head down so that he could nuzzle against her hair.

"I am _not_ comfortable," Kaoru told herself firmly, "and I refuse to let my brain tell me that I a---" she yawned," that I am. And as soon as I figure out a way to get out of this, I will... right? Of course right."

She idly wondered if she should carry out her earlier plan of screaming, but it was awfully hard to find the energy when her body was relaxing against Kenshin's, when his heartbeat was lazily echoing through her, making her eyelids drift shut of their own accord. Kaoru made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a yawn, and attempted to free herself with another wiggle that, even in her half-awake state, she knew was somewhat half-hearted. Kenshin shifted slightly and murmured something indistinguishable in a low voice that she could feel rumbling deep and comforting in his chest. It scattered her thoughts even further, and she found it hard to remember why she couldn't just stay where she was and let his warmth surround her and lull her to sleep.

"Ken... shin..." she yawned again "You... need to... wake...we can't... this... isn't..." her voice trailed off as Kaoru found it impossible to keep her eyes open or resist the pull of the sleep that was lurking in the darkness behind her closed eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Yahiko? You want a ride home?" Yutaro asked as the two boys were packing up their books.

"Na... I'm gonna stick around for another half hour, until they close. I want to get a jump-start on that Social Studies project. Don't worry, I'm gonna call Dad to come pick me up. Sis left him a note about it."

With a shrug, Yutaro picked up his backpack. "Ok. You really think we're going to have a pop quiz?"

"Well, she didn't say anything specific—I mean, I think she wouldn't think that was fair, you know? But she hinted that she suspected something, and I trust her instincts? Anyway, better safe than sorry."

"In that class? Definitely. See you tomorrow!" And with that, Yutaro headed off to where his father's driver was waiting with the car. Yahiko went back into the stacks where the books about South America lurked. He was glad that he'd met up with Yutaro at the library rather than at his lab partner's house; true, he was going to have to call his Dad for a ride, but at least he could save himself a trip later in the week. He'd already raided the school library, and found their selection to be not exactly what he needed. When the second closing bell rang, Yahiko had managed to find enough books to fill his backpack, and had even copied a couple of magazine articles. He checked everything out and headed out to the payphone to call for a ride, waving to the librarian as her car pulled out of the parking lot.

Picking up the receiver, Yahiko was halfway through dialing before he realized that it was not actually connected to the phone anymore. Blinking, he looked down to where the cord had apparently been cut, and swore.

'_Ha ha, very funny, slice the phone cord. Idiots... Now what am I supposed to do?'_

If he had had his bike with him, it would have been an easy ten-minute ride back home. Without it, though... he grimaced.

'_Wait or walk? That is the question... I mean, if I don't show up, Dad will figure out that he should check the library... eventually... but probably not for another hour or so... by which time I could be home already... well-lit, well-traveled streets I wouldn't be afraid to bike down versus staying in the parking lot here, where the morons who think it's fun to cut phone cords might show up again... yeah... looks like it's time to head on home...'_

Shouldering his backpack, Yahiko turned and walked out of the parking lot. This was just great. Walking was going to take twice as long as biking would have, unless he took the shortcut through the park, and he wasn't stupid enough to do that when it was dark out. He put his collar up against the slight chill in the air and proceeded to walk briskly along the sidewalk.

There was very little traffic in the neighborhood, probably because it was a weeknight. The streetlights shone down and made puddles of light on the sidewalk, except for the ones that were broken. The one on the corner where Yahiko turned flickered on and off and he wondered if the city was ever going to get around to repairing it. It had been that way for as long as he could remember going back and forth to the library on his own or with Kaoru accompanying him.

Yahiko whistled absently to himself, some song he'd been hearing on the radio recently but didn't even know the name of. There was a faint noise like a bird screeching from somewhere behind him, but he ignored it.

'_Stupid crows... they never know when to shut up...'_ he thought to himself.

Then there was a sudden noise like a rush of wings overhead, and he barely had time to duck before _something_ passed close by, a mere shadow in the darkness, so close he felt like he could reach out and touch it. Except of course for the fact that he really didn't want to reach out and touch anything.

Eyes wide, Yahiko half-turned and stumbled backwards as that screeching sound echoed again. This time, he heard the noise of... whatever it was... approaching again, and was able to throw himself out of the way and pivot so that he could take off in a different direction, running away from the noise that was once again echoing behind him. Acting on instinct, he zigzagged rather than running in a straight line.

It took him several yards of blind running to realize that he'd run into the park, where the faint lights along the pathways did little to dispel the darkness, and where the trees provided excellent cover for... for _whatever_ was probably even now planning on swooping at him again as soon as he slowed down.

On the other hand, Yahiko realized, he couldn't sprint through the whole park and all the way home, especially not while carrying a full backpack. Better to save his energy for when he might need it. Slowing down and catching his breath, he nonetheless kept moving, staying alert for any suspicious sounds.

'_Of course, now that I'm in the stupid park, that means keeping alert for more ground-based, two-legged predators... great. Just great. And I don't have my bokken with me.'_

Settling into a rapid walk, Yahiko scowled as he heard a sound suspiciously like a mocking, screeching laugh from somewhere behind him.

'_Oh, sure, hunt me and now laugh at me, like this is some sort of stupid game, scare the kid with the backpack—what do they think I am, twelve? I'm almost an Assistant Master! I can hold my own in a fight... when I have my weapon and am not being attacked from the –HELL!"_

There was almost no warning, just the sensation of the air being displaced, and Yahiko barely had time to throw himself onto the ground. There was a slight ripping noise that Yahiko hoped wasn't the main part of his backpack, and he hit the ground awkwardly, his palms stinging from the impact. He could also feel a sticky warmth on his forehead that indicated that the bush he'd partially fallen into had exacted its revenge.

It was almost worse that there was no immediate follow-up attack, just a sense of something lurking and waiting for him to stand up again. Gritting his teeth, Yahiko tried to think of options other than just standing up and waiting to be attacked again like an idiot. He estimated that he was about halfway through the park, and from there just a block and a half remained until he reached the dojo. On the other hand, he really wasn't sure running straight home was a good idea, not when he didn't know what exactly was chasing him.

'_With my luck, this will turn into some sort of Alfred Hitchcock barricade yourself in the house and board up the windows and look out for seagulls thing...'_

Wincing as the scrapes on his palms made contact with what felt like gravel and dirt, Yahiko pushed himself up enough to look around and get an idea for his surroundings. It was too dark for him to really be able to see much, but by running his hand over the ground he found that there was a fair-sized branch nearby. He hoped that it wasn't too rotten, or too big for him to pick up easily. Taking a deep breath, Yahiko rolled slightly and stood up, holding the branch in front of him.

The response was almost immediate. There was another screech that approached him rapidly from behind, combined with a noise like wings pulling in for an approach, and Yahiko ducked and struck in one motion that wasn't exactly fluid, but which seemed to work. He felt the shock of contact all along his arms, and the screeching noise came to an abrupt end as something dark and heavy was sent spinning backwards. There was a set of noises that seemed to indicate that whatever it was had smacked into the trunk of the nearest tree. Yahiko didn't wait to find out if that was the case; instead, he dropped the branch and took off, sprinting as fast as he could for the exit and the street outside of the park. The closest street wasn't actually the one that they lived on, but that was ok. He actually felt better about not running in a straight line for his own front door.

The rest of the way home was free of strange rustling noises, weird screeches, or anything else that seemed like it might leap out of the bushes at him. Yahiko was relieved. True, he doubted he could have sprinted as quickly if he'd been carrying the branch, but he hadn't liked the fact that dropping it had left him without a weapon. When he reached the corner near the house, he paused and counted to twenty, just to make sure that nothing had been following him. When he didn't hear anything suspicious, he kept going.

Of course, his first destination was the dojo storage room, where he picked up his bokken before he headed into the house.

"Hey, Dad? Yutaro and I finished up at the library, and now I'm home!" Yahiko called out, hoping that his father would assume he'd gotten a ride with the other boy. It wasn't _exactly_ a lie the way that he'd phrased it, he reasoned, and it was definitely better than mentioning that he'd walked home alone after dark, even without bringing in the attack of the crazed bird-people or... or whatever that had been.

There was a mild affirmative noise from the direction of the living room, where the elder Kamiya was engaged in reading the newspaper. Yahiko dropped his backpack off in his room and winced at the sight of the tear in the outer pocket. It was a good thing he had put his wallet in his jacket instead of in the backpack where he usually did. Heading into the bathroom, Yahiko hunted down the antiseptic for his hands and forehead. The scrape on his head was shallow, fortunately, but the way that it had bled made him glad that he hadn't stopped in to say hello to their dad. His hands needed to be washed thoroughly, to get rid of any trace of dirt or bits of gravel, then he applied the cream to his palms and forehead. The head cut was easy to bandage, but he really didn't know what to do about his hands. Finally, he settled for long strips of gauze over the antiseptic cream.

'_Looks like I should be stumbling around Ancient Egypt muttering about curses, but it'll do for overnight. Oh, great, how am I supposed to shower with these bandages? They'll just have to come off beforehand. Probably for the best; can't go to school looking like this._

He yelled down that he was going to get ready for bed, waited for another affirmative noise, and carefully unpacked everything from his bag. Obviously, he was going to have to take a different backpack to school tomorrow, and he might as well get everything switched over right away, before he forgot. Mornings were not really his best time of the day, and there was a good chance he'd run off with the damaged bag and not notice until somebody pointed it out to him. Once he was done, Yahiko sat down on the floor and leaned against the side of the bed, deep in thought.

'_Well, that makes two weird supernatural occurrences in as many weeks. No way that flying weirdo isn't connected to whatever was up with that sword. I mean, if he isn't, then I'll... I'll... I won't complain about Ugly's cooking for a whole year!'_

It looked like Kaoru was going to have more questions to answer than just about that sword.

* * *

Next Chapter: Kaoru wonders if it counts as deja vu if she really does keep having the same experience over and over and over again...

Author's Note: Thanks to everybody who had thoughts about the rating, actual or potential, of the story! Wow, lots of different opinions... well, after thinking about it, I have decided to keep the rating as-is for now and raise it if I feel like the story is no longer PG-13. I'm really trying to keep it at a PG-13 level and enjoying writing things that way.

In this chapter I don't own: Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" ("O frabjous day, calloo, callay..."). My mother used to have a crockpot cookbook that included a recipe for stuffed quail, but I never have (good thing, too). I also don't own the song "One of these things is not like the others," which I believe was from "Sesame Street," the "Right? Of course right!" line from "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, or the "To be or not to be? That is the question..." speech from "Hamlet."

Reviewer Responses: Hi everybody! Glad that folks liked the previous chapter! And, look, more Kenshin and Kaoru! Also glad that people appreciate that I'm trying to update regularly; I could write longer chapters (actually, this one was fourteen pages), but they would take longer. A reviewer requested that I try to post this one a bit earlier, so the individual responses are going to be even quicker than normal (well, normal is actually not that quick.. ah, well). I continue to have way too much fun writing this, so it makes me very happy that people are continuing to enjoy it.

Individual Responses:

Anime-mistress585: Hmm... :considers giving Kenshin a French accent...: Interesting parallel! Hee.

Anne Novemberly: Should I be disturbed that the dream sequence was a lot of fun to write? Hmm... Good point about Kenshin's clothes in Kaoru's room! I had not thought about that. I think I'll just say that, after years of training, the men in the Kamiya family know better than to go into Kaoru's room without explicit, written permission. Hee. Interesting guess on the reason the car crash might be important!

Apathetic Empath2: Glad that the POV switches work! I sometimes worry that it gets confusing (and sometimes I get confused, so...) I think that the Kamiya family kitchens probably bear a startling resemblance to one another, frankly. Duly noted about Aoshi/Misao!

benign intent: Thank you for the discussion of ratings and so on! I am going to work hard to keep things at the PG-13 level and only up the rating if it goes in that direction anyway.

Dark Paine: Hmm.. your link got erased. And, thank you!

destinystar2: Hope that this does in fact reach you before you leave, and have a great trip!

en route: Um.. err.. they will have a discussion, promise!

Holly: Well, you know, Hiko has to make An Entrance. And, mostly, for myself, I say "Bwa ha ha!" :ahem: And glad that you enjoyed the chapter.

Indygodusk: (I think I got the title of your lovely K/K story wrong in the last response; sorry! My excuse is that "daze" is what Kenshin was in upon seeing Kaoru.. yeah.. that works...) Interesting tidbit about the plant-growing... shall have to suggest that at home.

Kathryn Angelle: Thank you! The dancing sounds like a lot of fun! Glad that you appreciated the various bits of the last chapter.

luvHaru7: Thank you! I would have included a link to a picture of the actual nail polish, but they seem to have discontinued it.

Jade LightningWolf: Depending on where you are, you might be able to find it on TV. Yay for fanart! Do keep me posted! Hmm.. I wonder who would make a good Demonic French Toast/Evil Waffles spokesperson...

Larie-chan: Yup. No end in sight. And, yes, Kaoru (although she would not admit it) did indeed say something relationship-y to Kenshin.

mutsumi: Yup, she did indeed say that! Although she probably would never admit it...

Nekotsuki::innocent whistle:

omasuoniwabanshi: Yup, definitely Hiko. Who was probably snickering for a good ten minutes after hanging up the phone. Thank you for the cookie recipes, and the additional suggested anti-squirrel-projectile usage! Now if they would just work on plotbunnies...

Pendant's Grace:: passes out balloons and cake and tosses confetti for the 1,200 review: Whee!

Prince Aoshi: Thank you! I am so glad that you like it, and that you enjoy the style.

Serena Conlon06: Not sure I can take credit for peevish koi (they're based off of a line in "Kim Possible), but I agree that they're a scary threat. And, thank you!

Snow Leopard: I think the "relationship" comment kind of knocked the wind out of her righteous anger and left her open to distraction. And you know that Kenshin is always willing to take advantage of Kaoru being distracted...

sueb262:sends floor cushions:

Triste1: Oooh, fun languages! Must be very useful to at least be able to swear in multiple languages. Some languages, frankly, are better for swearing than others. Glad that you approve of the post-trauma nightmares and so on.

Via x Infinito: Kaoru is indeed quite confused... (and vegetables and little brothers everywhere cower in fear...)

YingRui: Shh, don't tell anybody! Actually... um... sometimes stuff happens! Look, mysterious attack birdies!

zafaran: Sometimes I wonder if I should put a reader noise level warning along with the violence and citrus... And, thank you! Glad that you are enjoying the story.


	25. Java Jive

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga, all the way from the beginning through both the Kyoto Arc and the Jinchu Arc.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Java Jive

* * *

For someone who normally snapped from sleeping to fully alert, waking up slowly was a disconcerting experience. He knew that it was a strange state for him to find himself in, but even so it took Kenshin several long minutes before he was able to get his brain to provide any information past "warm," "comfortable," and "jasmine." When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. The pieces didn't come together until he looked down to see a familiar head of ink-black hair lying across his chest. 

'_Kaoru... Kaoru's living room, on Kaoru's couch... came back last night to try to talk to her; only sat down for a moment...'_

He winced slightly. Obviously, he had been more exhausted than he'd thought. The moment of sitting down had somehow resulted in his falling asleep on her couch. How exactly that had led to his waking up with a Kaoru-blanket still wasn't entirely clear. Not that he could say he minded, of course. One of her hands was clutching his shoulder while her other arm curved around his side, and her legs were tangled with his. The way that the rest of her body was pressed against him on the narrow surface of the couch made him wonder why he hadn't woken up much sooner. Her breathing was deep and even, completely relaxed as she sprawled on top of him. Kenshin smiled. However they had ended up in this situation, Kaoru clearly had no problem with it. Well, not while she was still asleep. In fact, the several nights that they had spent together in similar positions had already demonstrated that. It was just a question of getting her to admit that when they were both awake.

'_Now, what are the odds that the first thing she does once she wakes up is try to smack my shoulder again?'_ he thought to himself with some amusement. Taking advantage of Kaoru's slumbering state, he shifted so that he could run his hands up and down her back, trying to get rid of some of the tension he could feel there even in sleep. She stirred slightly and sleepily murmured something that he couldn't quite catch before she settled again with a contented sigh.

"Oh, kitten, I could get used to this..." Kenshin murmured to himself. "However, since it's a workday..." In a louder tone, he continued, "Kaoru? Kaoru, you need to wake up now. And try not to hit me right away, ok?"

"Mmmm...?" Kaoru answered sleepily in response to the sound of her name. He could practically see her waking up, her brow furrowing slightly as she tried to piece her circumstances together. She stretched slightly and blinked sleepy blue eyes. Deciding that the best defense was a good offense, Kenshin said, "Morning, kitten. Time to get up. Would you like to shower and get ready for work while I fix us some breakfast?"

"Mmmm?" Kaoru said again as she looked at him, her expression still slightly confused as she worked to put the pieces together. He almost laughed, but since he was working to keep his voice and features neutral and his body under control, he didn't. Instead, he just repeated, "If you let me up, I can fix us some breakfast and then you can head off to work. I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to talk last night, but I guess I fell asleep."

'_Fell asleep...'_ Kaoru suddenly blinked more forcefully as she came fully awake and remembered the events of the previous night that had led to her waking up in Kenshin's arms. Again. This was starting to get seriously annoying. Not to mention the fact that Kenshin was looking at her with an expression which said that he was just waiting for her to try to smack him again. Glaring at him, she raised her chin, took a deep breath, and said, "Let go. Now. And don't think I'm going to forget that this entire mess is _your_ fault, you... you... snuggle-obsessed, couch-stealing, overly self-confident, thinks-cooking-breakfast-will-get-him-out-of-trouble..."

Kenshin's mouth quirked up in a way that made her glare even more fiercely. Schooling his expression, he said, "I didn't mean to steal your couch. It's just that I was waiting for you to come home so that we could at least start having that discussion we talked about before, remember?"

"And this relates to you're not hearing me say "Let go" how exactly?" she replied snappishly. "You can't wake me up by reminding me that I have to get ready for work and then _not_ let me get ready to go to work, unless you're feeling particularly sadistic this morning after that sneak grab attack last night when I was just trying to wake you up so that you could go _home_, where you should be right now, instead of here bothering innocent people whose apartments you seem to keep sneaking into! And stop waiting for me to smack you; it's ridiculous."

At that, he did laugh. On the other hand, he also let go. Kaoru was up and off of the couch as fast as she could scramble. As she turned sharply to head towards the bedroom so that she could shower and get her work outfit together, she said, "You can do whatever you want about breakfast, but don't expect me to take the time to eat that much. Some of us are on a schedule, you know."

Lazily stretching, Kenshin remarked after her retreating form, "Kitten, have I ever told you how much I enjoy watching you stomp away like that?"

"SO going to kill you, permanently, as soon as I finish figuring out how!" she sing-songed back at him before closing the door.

As Kenshin stood up and headed towards the kitchen, he couldn't suppress a broad grin. One of the many things that he enjoyed about waking up with Kaoru in his arms, no matter where they were, was the way that she went from being bonelessly curled against him to her eyes shooting sparks at him. Not that he didn't relish her curled up against him; in fact, he was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it was addictive. It also indicated a level of comfort with him that he was sure she didn't quite realize she was showing.

'_Even when she wakes up, she's not afraid of me...'_ he thought to himself. It was something that he still couldn't think about without a sense of something like awe. He knew what he was; he had no illusions about what he did. He'd experienced the full range of human reactions to it in the course of his career. Kaoru snapped back at him, she hit him, she melted into his kisses and returned them with equal fervor... but she didn't cower, and she never had. Even when she had seen him kill, even when she had known that he was hunting her, she hadn't been paralyzed with fear.

Kenshin began his search of Kaoru's cupboards almost absent-mindedly, looking for something he could use to make a decent breakfast for the two of them. He smiled at the memory of the girl he'd pulled out of that closet. No, Kaoru had been the opposite of paralyzed. And now... even though her attacks had been limited to verbal ones, at least so far, she was clearly showing that same spark.

'_Let's see... Lucky Charms... Cap'n Crunch... Froot Loops... good grief, does she not have anything that consists almost completely of preservatives and sugar? One of these days, I really should just clean out her cupboards and make sure she has healthier food. If I recruit Megumi to put together a slide show of what happens when you don't eat properly, I should even be able to avoid getting inconveniently killed... probably.'_

Looking at the the coffee machine, Kenshin suddenly realized that, whatever had happened the previous night, Kaoru obviously hadn't had time to fill and set it. He blinked. She must have tried to wake him up as soon as she saw him, and then... Kenshin smiled to himself as he reconstructed what must have happened.

If she had stayed snuggled on the couch with him and fallen asleep rather than thinking about her morning coffee supply, the situation was clearly even more hopeful than he had thought. As for the coffee... well, that was easy enough to take care of before she got out of the shower.

As he got out the coffee, he wondered if Kaoru realized that even when she was awake and reacting to him like a very peeved hedgehog, she wasn't uncomfortable around him. True, there was a kind of prickliness, and a limitless supply of sarcasm, but the fact that she bantered with him the way that she did clearly meant that she wasn't afraid or nervous. Not the ways that he was used to. The only thing that he didn't quite understand was the fact that she occasionally seemed confused by him.

Once the vital caffeine supplies for the morning had been taken care of, Kenshin went over to Kaoru's cupboards and got out plates and mugs, humming softly to himself. It was while he was putting everything on the table that he realized how much less exhausted he was this morning than he had been the previous evening.

'_And I don't think I can give the credit to Kaoru's couch,'_ Kenshin thought to himself, amused. Idly, he wondered what his Master would have to say about his renewed energy level. _'With my luck, he'd order me to sleep with Kaoru every night, just to make sure I stay in top shape during this mission.'_

He blinked suddenly, mug in hand, and ran that thought through his mind again. _'Err... I mean, with my luck, he'd order me to just sleep with her... and he'd completely neglect to ask her opinion on the matter, and I won't know anything about the situation until I come home one evening to an angry Kaoru spell-trapped in my bed and unable to get more than two feet away from it... and then I'd have to spend the entire night apologizing...'_

There was a long, distracted pause.

'_This is NOT taking care of breakfast, Himura. Get a hold of yourself and check if Kaoru has any eggs in the refrigerator that aren't going to make a break for it the minute you open the door.'_

He wasn't sure if Kaoru would want to take the time to eat scrambled eggs, all things considered. On the other hand, attacking the eggs would give him something else to think about.

That, he thought to himself as he listened to the shower being turned on,definitely had its advantages at the moment.

_

* * *

_

If it hadn't been for the fact that she was slightly worried about being late for work, Kaoru would have deliberately stayed in the shower until she was sure that Kenshin had left. However, since she knew she had a limited amount of time, even though driving was faster than biking, Kaoru showered quickly and threw on the first professional-looking outfit she found in her closet.

'_I can't believe that I just spent the night sleeping with Kenshin! AGAIN! What is wrong with me? He is not safe; he is not comfortable... ok, fine, he was comfortable, I guess... I mean... I slept, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have curled up on my own and slept just as well, darn it!'_

All things considered, Kaoru wasn't surprised that she was looking forward to her day at work much more than she normally did.

Rather than strolling around in her apartment in the low heels she had picked for the day, she slipped on her fluffy purple slippers and went out into the kitchen to get breakfast. It really didn't surprise her that Kenshin was just pouring coffee for both of them and that there were glasses of orange juice, several different yogurt options, and a plate with perfectly-buttered slices of toast already on the table.

Without even turning around, Kenshin said, "I didn't have time to put together anything more complicated, but I know that you want to eat quickly. You can feel free to take some of the yogurt to school if you'd prefer."

As he was turning to bring the coffee to the table, his eyes ran over her outfit and paused briefly on her feet. "Those will definitely make an impression on the students," he commented, grinning at her with eyes full of mischievous sparks.

"Your sense of humor has neither sense nor humor; has anybody ever told you that?" Kaoru remarked. She picked up a piece of toast and started munching absent-mindedly as she wandered back out to start putting her things in order for work. She frowned down at her half-packed bag, furrowing her brow as she thought about exactly what she needed for her day to be productive. It was a better use of her mental energy than wondering where on earth Kenshin had gotten orange juice and yogurt.

"Coffee?"

"Uh-huh..." Kaoru replied absent-mindedly, taking the mug and drinking half of it before she realized what she was doing.

'_Stupid... why do my mornings keep turning into some kind of Ozzy and Harriet routine... except that Ozzy never cooked. I think. And Kenshin does, which continues to be disconcerting... I mean, if it weren't for the slaughtering of innocent people, he would be a really... NO! There will be NO thinking boyfriendy thoughts about the evil demon! Even if he's... even if I've admitted that I find him... good looks are not everything. Nor is the ability to cook. Or the way that he kisses... Would it be too obvious if I just started hitting myself with the coffee mug?'_

Kenshin opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the phone rang. Putting her mug down on the desk, Kaoru went to answer it.

"Hello, Kao--." Before she could even finish her name, whoever was on the other end of the line had clearly started talking. "Yah—wha--" Kaoru began, then stopped, her hands clenching the phone cord as she listened.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin asked, catching a glimpse of her expression, the way that her knuckles were white and her jaw tense. She didn't answer; in fact, he wasn't even sure that she heard him. Whoever was on the other end of the line—he assumed it was her brother, from the one syllable she'd managed to get out—was clearly not letting Kaoru get a word in edgewise, caught up in whatever they were saying.

After several minute of Kaoru listening, her hands twisting in the phone cord, stormclouds gathering in her expression, she finally spoke again, with a violence that shattered the quiet of the apartment.

"_NO!_ You stay there, you don't leave; I'm coming to pick you up. Do not argue with me about this, Yahiko. And we are going to have a conversation about the fact that you went back to the... I don't care that it's light out now, you should _not_ have done that. Oh, never mind, this isn't the time to argue about this. You stay there, and I will be over in ten minutes."

When she put the phone down, with careful deliberation, Kenshin could practically see how much effort it was taking her not to slam the receiver down violently. She was almost trembling with the force of her emotions, and he approached cautiously, not sure if she was more likely to spook or snarl.

"Kaoru?" he asked quietly.

For a moment, he thought that she hadn't heard him. Her breathing was still slightly uneven, her jaw and hands clenched.

Finally, just when he was about to repeat himself, she said, "Something went after my brother. Last night, on his way home from the library. Something _went after my brother_." Her tone was fierce and when she turned to face him her eyes were blazing.

Amber flared in his own eyes as he looked at her, and he nodded curtly. "Does he know what it was?" The way that Kaoru had phrased her statement clearly indicated that she was talking about something more than the boy just being hassled by a gang or bothered on the street. If it was something other than that... if it was something other than that, then he needed to know about it, and he needed to know as much and as soon as possible.

"No, not exactly," Kaoru said. She turned and began to finish packing everything into her purse, her movements curt and forceful. "He was supposed to call Dad to give him a ride, but the phone was broken. Everybody else had already left the library, so he decided that it was better to walk home than wait until Dad noticed he was gone. Yahiko said that something came at him from behind, from _above_; something that shrieked at him and kept swooping down at him. It... it _hunted_ him into the park, and then..." She took a deep breath, clearly getting herself back under control. "It knocked him over, but he was able to pick up a branch and hit it when it came back at him. Then he ran back home. And this morning, he went back to the park to see if he could find anything." Her tone on the last sentence clearly indicated that she was not done talking with her brother about _that _particular move.

Kenshin exhaled slowly. Her eyes flicked up towards him and she said, "Kenshin. Do you know what it was?" It wasn't exactly a question.

Choosing his words carefully, Kenshin replied, "It sounds like something that I'm... familiar with. In fact, it sounds like part of the reason why I've been gone this past week. I'll need to go to the library and the park to make sure."

She noticed that he didn't make any promises, didn't offer platitudes. She was actually glad of it, because she was fairly sure any attempt of his to offer comfort would have resulted in violence that she really didn't have time for right now.

Nodding slowly, Kaoru said, "Alright... do you need Yahiko and me to go with you after school? Part of her couldn't believe that she was asking, but this was _her family_ she was talking about, and she would have braved far worse than demons to keep them safe. That didn't mean that she would send Yahiko off alone with Kenshin, but she recognized that Kenshin was more likely to be qualified to deal with whatever had hurt her little brother. The fact that she would insist on going along would also mean that she wouldn't have to beat the answers out of either one of them later.

"No, that's alright," Kenshin answered, his tone serious. "The library and the park are enough for me to go on, and I don't want to drag the two of you out of school."

Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "Just because you're right about that last bit doesn't mean that I don't suspect you're using it as an excuse to keep us away from the site of the attack."

"What makes you think that?" he asked calmly, one eyebrow raised.

One corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. "I would have done the same thing if my idiot brother hadn't already decided to go back there at the crack of dawn on his own."

Kenshin's expression mirrored hers for a minute before he went back to looking serious. "Kaoru... I can't stop you from going back to the park, but I would request that you let me look into this for now. In all honesty, I don't think that... whatever it was... is still there, and definitely not during the daytime."

Tilting her head, she looked at him consideringly. "Alright. But you had better tell me whatever you find out, _and_ what makes you so sure that you know what it is. Because if you don't, I will go back there on my own and stake out the park at night by myself until I figure it out."

He held her eyes with his for a long moment, but she neither blinked nor looked away from that amber gaze. Then he nodded, once, slowly.

"I'll tell you. And Yahiko as well, if that is what you want."

She let out a long breath and said, "OK. Good. I have to go to pick up Yahiko and then go to school. Don't worry about anything from breakfast; I'll take care of it later. Do... do you want me to ask him anything else? Or do you want to ask him anything yourself?"

Kenshin shook his head. Kaoru once again said, "OK," and turned to leave. Halfway to the door she stopped and said, "Kenshin? Is... is it possible that this is something to do with you getting your sword back, with Yahiko being there?"

"No." His reply was swift and decisive, recognizing the tension behind her question. Kaoru had obviously done what she did with his sword because she wanted to keep people from being hurt, and she was clearly upset at the thought that it was precisely those precautions that could have let danger close to the people who were most important in her life.

"The charms that your grandfather used did their job; it took me a while to figure out what was going on even when I was in the same room. And once I had it back in my hands, then nothing else could have picked up on it." After a slight pause, he continued, "It wasn't anything to do with my sword; you don't need to worry that it was anything like that. If I'm right... if it was what I think it was, then Yahiko was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, nothing more."

"Somehow, that doesn't _entirely_ make me feel better," Kaoru mused. _'Of all the genetic traits my brother and I could share, why couldn't it have been eye color? Why do we both have to have a proclivity for attracting demonic interest? I mean, it's not like we go looking for it. I mean, I certainly never go looking for it, and yet, demons keep turning up. Well, one of them, anyway. Which, frankly, is more than enough.'_

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask Kenshin what they were going to do about the discussion they had agreed to have, but Kaoru really didn't want to distract him. He was thinking about Yahiko's attacker, she was sure of it; as far as she was concerned, there was nothing more important than that at the moment.

Anything else could wait.

Besides which, she reasoned as she headed down the stairs, waiting would give her more time to plot out constructively violent responses, in case they became necessary.

* * *

Five seconds before the doorbell rang, Aoshi stirred and moved to sit up. Misao made an inquiring noise in the back of her throat, but he kissed her lightly on the forehead and murmured, "It's alright; go back to sleep," before rolling her gently over onto the pillows. His mouth curled up in a faint smile at the way she snuggled around the pillow he had just been lying against, and he pulled the blankets carefully up around her shoulders before he found and pulled on his clothes. 

As he opened the door, Aoshi said, "Yes, Himura?" His tone was as even as always, and if there was any undertone of annoyance at being dragged out of his bed, it was almost too faint to notice.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Kenshin answered, in response to the things Aoshi hadn't said, "but something has come up. How soon can you meet me over at the city library?"

"I can be there in a half an hour," the taller man said, "An answer which would have been the same if you had called rather than bothering to come all the way over here, by the way."

'_In which case we could have both been there already...'_ went unspoken, and Kenshin found himself simultaneously holding back a glare and refraining from rolling his eyes. Instead, he merely nodded courteously and thanked Aoshi before heading back out of the building.

'_No sense in wasting time waiting for him,_' Kenshin thought to himself. He had barely stopped to change his clothes and get whatever he thought he might need back before he had gone to get Aoshi. His mind had been focused on what Kaoru had told him about her little brother getting attacked, the specific details and the pattern demonstrated.

If he was right...

'_If I'm right, then Yahiko getting attacked could turn out to be very, very useful. Although I probably shouldn't put it that way when I tell Kaoru about it.'_

Kenshin's mouth quirked up slightly at one corner as he pushed open the door to the dark parking garage and headed into the shadows.

'_Getting killed again right now really would be dreadfully inconvenient...'

* * *

_

Next Chapter: Shocking revelations! Startling realizations! Exclamation points! And... a theme for the Halloween Party!

Author Note: Umm.. errr... they'll have a discussion eventually, honest! Put the tar down and back away from the feathers! I wish that I could blame the shortness of this chapter on the most recent Harry Potter release, but since it's going to be a long time before I get a chance to read it (:heavy sigh:), alas, I cannot. On a related note: please, please, PLEASE don't mention anything about Harry Potter in your reviews, guys. Really. Anything at all. Just don't do it. Seriously. Spoilers (for either of the last two books... yes, yes, I _know_; there's a long and convoluted explanation) will make me whimper and go hide in a tree, and are thus not conducive to future chapter updates.

In this chapter I don't own: The _Ozzy and Harriet Show_, one of the very first TV sitcoms. I also don't own any Froot Loops (still!), Cap'n Crunch, or Lucky Charms.

Fanart note: Yay! More pretty pictures! The thoroughly talented Jade Lightning Wolf (who earlier drew a picture of Kenshin and Kaoru at the club) has drawn a really nice shot of Kenshin comforting Kaoru in her bed, after her nightmare. It's available at: http/jade-lightning-wolf(dot)deviantart(dot)com. Enjoy!

Reviewer Responses: Well, I continue to be very happy that so many people are enjoying the story and writing reviews. Writing Kenshin in auto-snuggle mode was a lot of fun. In fact, Auto-Cuddle Kenshins would, I suspect, outsell even the infamous Demonic Waffles. And managing to get Kaoru to fall asleep in that situation and make it sound realistic was tough; I'm really glad that it worked. And I was amused that a couple of folks read the "One of these things is not like the other" song reference and immediately got the song in their heads. Hee. In addition, I note that several people asked about the car accident, to which I respond with a perfectly innocent look of wide-eyed authorial surprise.

Individual responses:

Anime-mistress585: The "Resistance is futile" line is from the Borg Collective, in "Star Trek," starting with "The Next Generation." Although the image of them laughing maniacally is rather disturbing.

Anne Novemberly: Well, Kaoru hasn't actually been living in her apartment for all that long. Besides which, she still regularly goes back to the dojo to practice or help out with teaching. And probably to steal the TV program for the week. I'm so glad that you like the way I'm writing her! The grandfather with the paper charms is still very much alive, and is their paternal grandfather (I've kind of mentally put him in an assisted-living apartment, not a nursing home, but something where he can get more regular medical care and so on than if he were still living at the dojo). The Owls were the ones who attacked Aoshi and Misao (none of them survived); what went after Yahiko was something different. In terms of what Aoshi and Misao have been up to.. um... err.. I could answer that question, but then I think I'd have to raise the rating. For your other review... sleeping comfortably in jeans is quite possibly one of Kenshin's freaky demonic powers. Hee. Along with demonic hearing. Besides which, Kenshin's fairly attuned to Kaoru in particular.

Apathetic Empath2: I wouldn't put it past Kenshin to have heard Kaoru and ignored her in favor of further cuddling, but this time he was just really exhausted. Not much A/M in this chapter, but a little bit.

AnyaRei: I think there's some Hannya/Henya spelling confusion going on.

Jade LightningWolf: Yay, more pretty pictures! Very nice job! And thank you for leaving me free to be attacked by plot bunnies. Um. I think.

Kathryn Angelle:hands out gold star: Hey! You're the first one to have picked up on that. Good job:grins:

La Regina Phantom: Somehow, I think that that dream would traumatize Kenshin even more than Kaoru got traumatized by her nightmares.

Lizzy44: Fairly promptly... although only after he himself had gone back to check things out and hadn't found anything.

Miharu Kawashi: Henya? No spell, just lots of work.

Nekotsuki: Ah, those log-in battles can be vicious skirmishes indeed. And... yes... :looks at projected story length and considers vacationing under the desk for a while:

omasuoniwabanshi: Kaoru and Yahiko do indeed have a desire to protect their Dad... and, frankly, neither of them probably quite knows how to explain the weirdness that they've been dealing with in a parentally-acceptable manner. Good observation that it probably has something to do with them having lost their mother!

Sans: If a "Bleach" bunny ever attacks, then I will probably write it. Or hide from it.

SaiyanKing Vegeta: Well, AU stands for "Alternate Universe," and OOC stands for "Out of Character." For example, if I wrote Sanosuke so that he was always buying lunch for his friends and talking about the evils of gambling, that would be OOC.

Serena Conlon06: Thank you! Glad that you like the pairings in this story.

shears: Don't worry; Kaoru is not going to be a doormat.

Shattered Immortality: Maybe it's something in the water:thinks of the well-related wackiness in the Feng Shui Arc:

Triste1: Whee, stuffed animals!

xZig-zagx: Well, it depends on who you ask. Kaoru, for example, would answer that question very differently from Kenshin.


	26. Avoidance Tactics

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty Six: Avoidance Tactics

* * *

Kaoru really didn't remember much about the ride over to pick up Yahiko. She was only half-aware of traffic and stop signs, reacting automatically to lights turning green or red without really seeing them. Her mind was still caught up in the fact that something clearly not human had gone after her little brother. Even though he had escaped with enough of his self-confidence intact to determinedly head back on his own and look for tracks, or... or... prints, or whatever you looked for with something that could apparently fly.

'_I can't believe that he did that, knowing how dangerous... ok, I can totally believe that he did that; I would have done it. Doesn't mean I'm not going to give him a lecture, though. There ain't room enough in this family for two of us going after potential sources of supernatural evil...'_

Yahiko was waiting on the stoop when Kaoru pulled up to the curve, and she didn't even have to honk the horn before he was heading over towards her. After tossing his backpack into the back, Yahiko got into the passenger seat beside her and said, "You could have let me take the bus, ugly. I'm not an invalid or anything."

She frowned at the sight of a bandage applied at a rakish angle to his forehead, and the obvious scratches on his hands and replied, "You look like you lost a fight with a sidewalk. And this seemed like something requiring discussion of a sort best not carried out in school, _or_ where Dad could hear us. What exactly happened?"

"Told you on the phone. Something was lurking near the library, up in the trees outside of the parking lot, and when I headed past them, it started swooping. And screeching. And laughing, I think. Hard to tell. Can birds laugh?"

"What am I, a science teach—oh, never mind; don't change the subject. You think it was a big bird, then?"

Yahiko looked thoughtfully out of the window, frowning in thought. "I thought it was a crow when I first heard it, but... I mean, I couldn't _see_ anything, but... it didn't... it _felt_ different from a bird. Not just the swooping; there was lurking. Birds don't lurk like that, you know? And when I hit it... it was like hitting a person in kendo. Something about the structure. Only... lighter somehow, not very solid."

Kaoru nodded at his statement and maneuvered the car through an intersection just as the light was turning yellow. "That makes sense; I mean, in order to be able to fly, birds' bones have to be hollow, so it seems like anything else that was... well, that was almost but not quite a bird would have to be structured similarly. Really, really light, so that the wings could manage to lift it and maintain any kind of altitude, left alone swooping."

"Yeah, but, um, when I went back, there weren't any feathers. I mean, I think I knocked it into a tree pretty hard, so you'd figure that there would be feathers on the ground, but..." The teenager shrugged, "Nothing."

"Any branches knocked down? Signs of an impact? And please note that I am reserving the right to lecture you about going back there by yourself until a later date, since we're about to reach the school."

Yahiko sighed. He should have known that he wasn't going to get off with the light warning Kaoru had given him earlier. "There were some branches, and I guess the bark might have looked a little... dented or something at one spot. I didn't get to check it really thoroughly. Had to get back to the house before Dad got up and everything. Wanna go back after school?"

"Kenshin said he'd look into it. And he asked us not to go back to the park until he'd had a chance to do that. So I said that we would. Or, um, that we wouldn't. You know what I mean."

She was pretty sure that Yahiko blinked several times before replying, but since Kaoru was looking at the road as they approached the school, she was only able to catch it out of the corner of her eye. The fact that Yahiko wasn't asking to be let out a block away from school grounds showed how nervous he was this morning, Kaoru thought. And the fact that she wasn't automatically pulling over to let him out said something about her own state of mind.

"Oh," Yahiko finally said, clearly at a loss for anything else to say, "Well... if _you_ trust him on this, then I guess that's ok. As long as he promised to tell us all about it later."

'_And as long as you explain why you were talking to Kenshin about it in the first place... and why he's the one who's qualified to look into things like this,'_ Yahiko thought to himself. _'I knew there was more going on with that sword! And with Kenshin! And Kaoru's obviously involved... oh, man, it's too early to be thinking about all this...'_

He turned his attention back to his sister as she continued. "Yes, he promised. And he said that the whatever-it-was was probably gone. I don't know if he meant just during the daytime or for good; it sounded like he wasn't sure about that one himself."

"Good," Yahiko said, referring to everything Kaoru had just told him. He pulled his backpack up over the seat as Kaoru parked the car and was out of the door as soon as she'd stopped and set the parking brake. She watched him go with a smile, knowing that the only reason he hadn't said goodbye was because he didn't want to be seen climbing out of a teacher's car at school. Or possibly because he didn't want to be seen climbing out of his sister's car at school. Or both.

She got her own briefcase out of the car with considerably more decorum than her little brother, and headed into the school.

It took her twenty steps before something important about what Yahiko said fully registered.

'_Well... if you trust him...'_

If she trusted Kenshin. Yahiko thought that she...

'_Oh... crap...'_

She had to stop on the sidewalk and take a couple of deep breaths before she could gather her thoughts enough to be rational. Biting her lip, she exhaled.

Did she trust Kenshin? She knew what he had said this morning, about going to investigate whatever had attacked Yahiko, and she had believed him when he said it. Really believed him, without thinking about it first or evaluating her other options.

She had believed that he would investigate what had happened, had believed that he would tell her and Yahiko the truth about it afterwards, and she had believed him when he said it wasn't related to how she had hidden his sword.

She had trusted him. Kenshin. Battousai. A demon who was responsible for at least two horrible massacres, and who had shown no compunction about butchering an enemy in front of her.

'_Would you believe me right now if I said, trust me, I'm not going to hurt you?'_

Kenshin's words on the stairway echoed in her head, over and over, as she went into the school, and she was barely aware of her surroundings, the bustle of students, the noise of locker doors opening and being slammed shut again.

'_Would you...'_

The hallways seemed stuffier than usual, the press of people around her both closer and strangely distant as she grappled with the words running around and around in her head.

'_...trust me?'_

She glared at the chalkboard as she entered the classroom, glad that Mr. Fujita hadn't arrived yet, and that most of the students were not in their seats.

'_I told him no, I very definitely told him 'No!" and he smiled at me about it! He said that it was a smart thing to do... or that I was smart; I don't remember which. If even Kenshin thought it was smart of me not to trust him right then, what the hell am I doing trusting him now? I mean, all he's done since then is be sneaky, and underhanded, and cuddly, and... and... well, he saved my life, and he wanted to help me with my nightmares, although some kinds of help are the kind of help that I definitely can do without... and I don't care if I like it when he kisses me, because I definitely DON'T like that I like it, and.. and... He could go out and massacre people again, whenever he feels like it! He has his sword back; how can I trust him, knowing that, no matter what else he's done to... err... for me in the meantime?'_

"Ms Kamiya?"

Kaoru jumped and turned to face her supervisor. It was almost a relief to see him, even if his mood seemed even more irritable and snappish than normal.

Although, in all honesty, she supposed it was hard to tell.

"I apologize for being late," Mr. Fujita said, putting his briefcase down on the desk with more force than normal. "Unfortunately, it appears that you will have to handle the final two classes by yourself today, Ms Kamiya. There's been an emergency teachers' conference called, and I have a responsibility to attend." As he pulled out a selection of folders, he muttered under his breath "If for no other reason than to make sure those idiots don't make an utter muck of things..."

'_He... what?'_ Kaoru thought, eyes wide as she stared at him. _'Most of the students still aren't even here... how is that late? Unless he means getting here after I did, which, considering the way he's been acting... wait... wait... there's an emergency conference? When did that...'_

Before she could get further than furrowing her brow and opening her mouth to ask what the emergency was, exactly, and why it needed a teachers' conference, Mr. Fujita was giving her another one of those sharply searching glances that had her biting her lower lip nervously.

"Now, the plan should be fairly easy to follow, Ms Kamiya," he said, handing the neatly-organized and labeled folders to her with a precise flick of his wrist. "All you have to do is follow the instructions and remember that _you're_ the one giving the orders, not them, and you should be fine."

With that, he turned away, obviously considering the matter to be closed.

If Kaoru had had the mental energy to devote to another strange occurrence, she would have tried to ask more questions about the conference—or, more specifically, the "emergency,"-- but her mind was already running around in as many circles as it could handle. Instead, she took her seat and tried to focus on reading the folders and preparing for work.

It took a great effort for Kaoru to get through the school day and give the appearance that everything was normal and functional, but she managed it. She took notes, and wrote on the blackboard, and lectured, and never gave any sign of the whirl of thoughts running around in her mind, over and over, always circling back to the same contradictions:

She shouldn't trust Kenshin. She knew what he was, knew what he was capable of, and had already resorted to desperate measures once to stop him. She had seen him cut down an auditorium full of people, had seen him revel in carnage, had been there in the factory when he'd methodically sliced Jineh into pieces.

She did trust Kenshin. Not just in the sense of believing him. She was trusting him with her brother's safety by letting him go out and investigate what had happened, and she had clearly trusted him enough on some deep level she didn't want to think about when she'd fallen asleep against him, in her bed and on the couch.

Interspersed with those two diametrically opposed points was a thread of awareness, an insistent mental comparison between Battousai as she had known him in high school and Kenshin as she knew him now. She had already noted that he seemed different... well, most of the time, anyway. There were still definite flashes of his earlier manner, the one that had led her to classify him as "predatory and dangerous"... Kaoru momentarily blinked at the chalk in her hands as she remembered specifics of the ways Kenshin had been predatory of late.

'_This is not useful. It is not helping me to have my thoughts running around and around and around like hamsters on crack, I know that... I can be distracted after school, right now I need to make sure that I don't accidentally blow anything up or tell the students that they need to measure their next experiment in millihelens and bananoseconds.'_

Firmly pushing all demon-related speculation to the very back of her mind, under a pile of half-remembered family camping trips, Kaoru finished writing a set of chemical formulas on the board and turned around to make sure that everybody had their test tubes and Bunsen burners at the ready. Teaching her students, she'd discovered, was similar to kendo: as long as she focused on the discipline that she'd learned, she could keep any wayward thoughts under control and deal with the task at hand.

* * *

After the last of the students had left, Kaoru slumped slightly in her chair. If the school day had been a kendo tournament, Kaoru was fairly confident that she would at least have made it into the final round. She doubted she would have won, but she wouldn't have embarrassed herself. All things considered, that was something she felt proud of.

Now all she had to do was find her brother and give him a ride back home.

During their lunch break, she had tracked Yahiko down in the cafeteria, ignoring the way he had blanched and then turned bright red as she came up to the table where he sat with his friends and gestured for him to follow her over to the side of the room.

"_Kao-ru!_" Yahiko hissed, darting glances back towards the other boys, "You _promised!"_

"This is a special situation," she retorted, restraining her instincts to whap him over the head with the pile of folders she was carrying. "I just wanted to tell you that I'll be giving you a ride back to the dojo after school; just swing by the classroom when you're done, ok?"

"I don't _need_ you to give me a ride! I'm not a little kid!" her brother declared angrily.

"That's not the point!" Kaoru declared, keeping her voice low, "The point is that after last night's events, we have a lot more to talk about! Including, by the way, ways we can make sure that that doesn't happen again—you walking home alone after dark, I mean. Even if there hadn't been something de—dangerous like what you ran into, there could have been gangs, or... or something."

His only response was a sullen glare and a muttered, "Sheesh, ugly, overprotective much?"

"Yahiko, I mean it!" Kaoru replied, glaring back. After several seconds, he dropped his eyes, and with a muttered, "Whatever." turned to head back to his friends. It wasn't until she was halfway back to the classroom that she realized he hadn't actually _said_ that he would ride home with her.

Now school was out, and Yahiko was nowhere in sight. Unfortunately, his years of experience with the way her mind worked enabled him to duck out of school and be on the bus before she could track him down. She frowned. Occasionally, having a smart kid brother was annoying.

'_I could head him off at the pass by going straight to the dojo after school... but I really think I need to go home and stalk Kenshin. I mean, stake out his apartment... I mean, I need to find out what he's found out about what happened to Yahiko, who is important enough to me to brave going into a demon's lair... or... or living room.'_

Once she'd gotten back home, collected her mail, and headed up the stairs, Kaoru took several deep breaths before she knocked on Kenshin's door. Part of her couldn't believe that she was voluntarily doing this, but the driving need to know what Yahiko had managed to get away from overrode any other concerns. When there was no answer to her repeated knocks, Kaoru frowned at the door. Maybe he wasn't back yet? Maybe there was something at the library, or at the park, that had given him a lead and he was out tracking it down?

Or, alternately, maybe he had no leads and was still wandering the park? Or lurking near the library? If it was one of the latter two, should she head over there and offer to help? True, she had promised that she wouldn't go over there on her own, but if she went over there looking for him... Except then he would probably show up back here and she would miss him, and they'd just end up running around in circles.

'_If I'm going to trust Kenshin on this, I need to make up my mind, hold my breath, and jump, not second-guess. He asked me to wait for him, and his reasons were perfectly reasonable, and... and even though this is driving me crazy, I will accept that he knows more about what he's looking for than I would. At least right now. I'll just reserve the right to maim him later at my own discretion.'

* * *

_

When she opened her own door, she looked around to make sure that Kenshin hadn't made himself comfortable on her couch or in her kitchen. It would, she reflected, have been just like him to be lurking in her apartment with news rather than staying in his own apartment like a good little demon. However, the apartment was empty and exactly as it had been when she'd left it that morning, down to the breakfast dishes. In a strange way, she was happy to see them, because household chores were something concrete she could latch onto without any wider associations crowding her thoughts.

'_Plates, glasses, silverware, mugs; glad that he just made toast instead of waffles or French Toast... darn it, I said that I was going to do this without any wider associations! Drawing parallels and making wider associations is generally a good and useful mental skill, but not at the moment, Kaoru, and so we shall not be having any of that this afternoon!'_

Once the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean, Kaoru found herself with surprisingly little to do. Or at least nothing to do that was urgent or consuming enough to distract her from the other thoughts running around in her mind. She tried to organize her desk, threw the ingredients for Taco Soup into the crockpot and turned it up to high, browsed through the textbook assignments for all of her classes up until Thanksgiving, and sorted through the newspapers that had collected under the coffee table, but eventually found herself sitting on the couch staring blankly at headlines as the clock ticked in the other room. It took her several minutes to register the fact that the steadily blinking red light by her telephone meant that she had messages waiting for her.

"Oh, for..." Kaoru said out loud into the stillness of the room as she uncurled from her position and padded over in sock feet towards the answering machine. She had tried to find a visible place to put the machine in her new apartment, knowing full well that she had a tendency to ignore it and miss messages, but the place where it currently was obviously wasn't cutting it if she failed to notice a blinking red light all afternoon.

The first message was from Misao, who, as usual, had started speaking _prior_ to the beep, resulting in half the first sentence being completely lost.

"... –eenth century French literature—can you believe it? Megumi said it was just because Sano had this idea about being all dashing and mustketeery, complete with hat and feather, but I think it's just Katsu showing off his advanced degrees again. Anyway, we need to coordinate costumes sometime this next week, especially since there's no WAY I'm buying a new outfit if I can help it, and if the three of us pool our wardrobes, we should be able to come up with something vaguely French. Or literary. Um... did you ever take any classes in college where you had to read relevant stuff? I mean, _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_... that's depressing without actually being French, right? Anyway, call me back! Only two more weeks 'til Halloween!"

Kaoru, whose pen had come to a stop in the middle of Misao's rant, blinked as the message ended, then wrote, "Halloween costumes—French literature; why, Lord, why—Consult with M/M"

It took her a half-second to recognize the voice in the second message, caught up as she was in trying to make a mental list of what she might be able to scrounge up for use as a costume. When she realized that it was Kenshin, she jumped, startled, looked around to see if he was in the room, then rolled her eyes as she transferred pen and pad to one hand so that she could hit the "Repeat" button.

"Kaoru, I looked around at the library and at the park. It was good that you mentioned this to me; let Yahiko know that I said that, ok? I need to spend some time following up on what I found; do NOT go stake out the park, either one of you. Anything there is going to be an annoyance of the strictly two-legged kind, and nothing will be accomplished by you putting yourself in danger that way."

His tone, even with the slight distortion of the machine, clearly expressed that he would know if she went anyway, and would be less than amused.

"I don't know how long it will take me to finish with this, but I remember my promise. We _will _talk about this, and about anything else you like, as soon as I can. Take care of yourself, kitten, and try to get a good night's sleep. Wouldn't want you to let yourself get exhausted again."

There was something between humor and smugness in his voice as the message finished, and it made Kaoru glare daggers at her machine. Her annoyance was not at all diminished by a sneaking suspicion that he had done it on purpose to lessen the overall seriousness of what he had said. And the fact that he hadn't told her anything useful over the phone, even though he had clearly learned _something,_ made her punch the "Save Message" button with a greater-than-usual amount of force.

Kaoru was still contemplating her next move when a familiar knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie. She stopped glaring at the answering machine, put her pen and pad down, and headed to answer it.

"Nineteenth-century French literature?" she demanded as she opened the door to reveal Sano standing on the other side. "What kind of idiot comes up with the theme "nineteenth-century French literature" for a Halloween party in a bar that has drink specials for the number of days passed without a major health code violation?"

"Umm... Katsu?" he offered as he came in, "He wanted to do something memorable. Said that anybody who didn't know what else to do could come as one of the impoverished masses from Victor Hugo."

"Have either of you thought about taking Megumi up on her offer of giving you a discount on a psychological evaluation at the clinic? For that matter, what's the charity this year?"

"Cancer unit; possibly specifically for pediatric, but Megumi wasn't sure yet. Speaking of the Fox, do you have that crockpot we talked about?"

Kaoru blinked. Crockpot... crockpot she had promised to lend to Sano... crockpot she had just put a batch of Taco Soup into this afternoon, and...

Closing her eyes in annoyance, she admitted, "Sorry, Sano; I forgot. I mean, it's got Taco Soup in it right now. It isn't a problem; I'll just need a minute to empty it out and put it into another pot to simmer, then I have to clean the crockpot."

Raising one eyebrow as he followed her into the kitchen, Sano said, "Something stressing you out, Missy? You usually don't resort to cooking unless you've run out of other ways to distract yourself."

'_Well, Sano, you know your good friend from high school, the one you and Megumi wanted to set me up with? Guess what! He's a demon, and something demonesque attacked Yahiko, and oh, by the way, there's the issue of whether or not he's attracted to me, or me to him, and a wide range of trust issues not covered in your standard Dear Abby column!'_

"Ah... well, just... um... work." Kaoru said, lamely, as she fetched a large pot from the cupboard and got ready to transfer the contents of the crockpot. _'Schoolwork, and housework and, oh yes, demon-research work...'_

"You sure it's not boyfriend issues?" the tall man teased, causing her to almost spill an entire batch of soup onto her kitchen floor. Then she almost spilled the entire batch of soup on Sano, this time on purpose.

"Am I _what_?" Kaoru demanded, aware that her face was burning bright red. "What on earth... NO! _Why_ would you think that I possibly had..." Of course, the answer was obvious. After Kenshin's little stunt at the mall, there was no way that Megumi hadn't passed along the news.

'_I KNEW I was doomed, I just KNEW it, I should have throttled him with a hanger in the dressing room...'_

"NO!" Kaoru finally sputtered, seeing Sano's expression after her earlier sentence had ground to a halt. "I do _NOT_ have a boyfriend, let alone any problems with one!"

'_Just a fanged, sword-wielding, wanna-be boyfriend, which does NOT count!'_

"Wow, you broke up already? Just because that's the way me and the Fox always did things doesn't mean that you two should do things that way. I mean, Kenshin's a really great guy; I've known him for a long time; if you need any advice..."

"This isn't the sort of thing that you can give me advice on!" Kaoru exclaimed. _'On account of the wacky demonosity of it all...'_

Undeterred, Sano kept talking, "Or you could talk to Megumi! I mean, if you feel the need to do the woman's perspective thing...

"No! No perspectives!" She was starting to feel a sense of panic at the thought of her friends getting involved. "I mean, thanks, but we're not... the two of us have _never_... and... we're _not_... and... and there isn't even a "we" in the first place, and... and, really, Sano, you..."

"Hey! How about you let me make sure you've got coordinating costumes for..."

"SANO! No! I don't want..."

"It would be great—I don't think Kenshin knows about the theme yet, so you can just tell me what book you're going to use, and I'll..."

"I'm _not_ going to... I _can't_..."

"Oh, come on, Missy, I won't tell him it's a plan, and then when you're at the party,

"Sano, NO! I am _not_ going to..." Kaoru wondered if Sano was even noticing her frantic arm-waving, or if he was too caught up in working out the details of his plot.

"...you can sidle up to him and..."

"No! Sano-you-don't-understand-Kenshin's-a-demon!" Kaoru blurted out in a rush, then stopped short as her brain caught up with what she had just said. Her breathing suddenly sounded very loud in the stillness that had fallen over the room with her outburst.

The only response was one slow blink of deep brown eyes, and an expression on her friend's face that made Kaoru wince in anticipation of his next statement.

"Oh... that... Um... yeah. Yeah, I know."

* * *

Next Chapter: Kaoru presents the traditional Kamiya family recipe for Rooster Fricassee:

1) Tenderize rooster, using bokken. Repeat as needed.

2) Chop vegetables. Make occasional emphatic gestures with sharp knife while loudly comparing relative intellect of vegetables and rooster.

3) Point out to rooster that it's his own darned fault he's in hot water.

4) Find bokken again.

Author's Note: A millihelen is the amount of beauty necessary to launch one ship (based on the line "Is this the face that launch'd a thousand ships," in Christopher Marlowe's play _Faustus_, referring to Helen of Troy); a bananosecond is the amount of time between slipping on a banana peel and hitting the ground. Really! I don't make these things up! Um... which is why I don't own them, either. In addition, before anybody asks— the way that Kaoru could tell that Misao was saying "nineteenth-century French literature" was that Kaoru knows when _The Three Musketeers_ and _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_ were written.

In this chapter I don't own: "Some Kinds of Help" from "The Purple Puzzle Tree," anything involving Musketeers, or, at the moment, any Taco Soup. And I wouldn't accept _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_ if it were given to me as a present.

Reviewer Responses: First, thanks to Triste1 for pointing out a rather silly typo in the last chapter, which I have corrected in the meantime. Hi everybody:wonders how fast she can write the responses and get this thing actually posted, before finding a safe place to hide from people who read the last sentence of the chapter and start heading out with pitchforks: Thank you so much for continuing or starting to read this story! Glad that people liked the Kenshin POV in the previous chapter; I know that we see more of Kaoru than anybody else, but I do try to keep some balance. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Let's see.. in terms of general questions.. No, what attacked Yahiko wasn't the same as what attacked Misao and Aoshi—this chapter hopefully provided a little bit more of a clue about what it might have been. And I'm happy that people are being kept on their toes and have questions! Umm.. as long as those questions don't lead to poking the author with forks and chopsticks and squirrels and other instruments of doom in order to get answers sooner.

Individual Responses:

Baka Deshi 35:giggles at image of cat-Kenshin: He is, isn't he. Hee.

bbzachariah: Nice song lyrics! And, thank you!

Cobaltsky: Umm... well, at least I didn't introduce any additional complications in this chapter... um.. err... never mind...

Crystal Winds: "Java Jive" is actually a song title—if you look at bbzachariah's review, they've actually included the lyrics. Java is a word for coffee, and jive just means that it's a jazzy kind of song or dance.

Dea Mariella: Ah, yes.. :makes list of all the conversations that have to happen, and wonders if she should just have the characters all go on Jerry Springer or something:

Desanera:ducks tar and feathers: Eep!

electrohisa: Hi! Glad that youv'e been enjoying the story so far.

fantasy angel victoria: Kenshin has very good instincts where Kaoru is concerned. Although she doesn't seem to appreciate them, alas.

Hitokiri Musei: Yay, plushies! Fluffy!

Indygodusk: Teasing his big sister is definitely something Yahiko will do, once he gets past the annoyance and being distracted by everything that's been going on. Hee.

luvHaru7: No, not demons. Although Kaoru might almost have preferred it to something wacky like "Nineteenth-century French Literature".

omasuoniwabanshi: Thank you! Umm... so, it's a good thing that the discussion didn't happen in this chapter? Right:looks around at other reviewers: Right?

open window: Apparently, he has to go to a teachers' conference. A perfectly normal, not-anything-to-do-with-demons, teachers' conference. Really.

peridot3783: Yahiko can't escape, but he can use his little-brother powers to avoid. At least for a little while. And, yes.. many conversations that need to take place. :evil authorial giggles:

Serena Conlon06: Kaoru would probably refuse to join a club like that... and Misao might not see a reason to be anonymous. Hee.

Shattered Immortality: Kaoru is certainly ready to get violent whenever she thinks its necessary. And I hope you're right in your guess about what attacked Yahiko.

skenshingumi: That's a good idea! Auto-cuddle Kenshin would probably outsell even the Demonic Waffles. And, yes, there is indeed a stuffed quail crockpot recipe. And, I believe, the cookbook claimed you could make a cake in a crockpot. I don't know what the crockpot company writers had been ingesting when they wrote that.

toxiclollipop: Welcome! Glad that you found this, and are enjoying it! The "fatal disease starting with an x" was a reference to Kaoru trying to calm down by thinking of an alphabetical list of ways to kill Kenshin, again. Hope that by the time you get to this chapter, you've figured out who Kenshin mistook Kaoru for in that earlier chapter!

Triste1: Thank you! I always enjoy reading your reviews as well. And, thank you for pointing out the "showerbring" error. It would have been fun to make up a definition for the word and pretend it was meant to be that way, but instead I just changed it. This is what happens when you add things in Quick Edit at the last minute, because the scene ending just needs something more than what it already had.

Ymir-chan: Thank you! In terms of fanart... I can't just paste links into so you have to cut and paste the addresses, replacing things like "(dot)" with an actual dot. If deviantart has their search feature back up, you could try searching for the authors' names.


	27. Kaleidoscope

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga (Kyoto Arc, Jinchuu Arc, etc.).

Chapter Twenty Seven: Kaleidoscope

* * *

Kaoru blinked. Twice. Then, in a perfectly reasonable and calm tone, she said, "I'm sorry, Sano, I thought that you just said "Yes, I know," when I told you that the man you've been trying to set me up with _is a demon_."

Sano, to his credit, managed to look embarrassed. In fact, Kaoru wasn't sure if the red she was seeing was from her own rising temper or Sano's blushing.

"Well... um... yeah... I mean, he is. And... um... yeah..." Registering Kaoru's expression, Sano's eyes widened and he took a cautious half-step backwards, "Um... do you want me to wash that crockpot for you? I mean, I'm sure that you have lots to..."

"Sanosuke Sagara, you have exactly three seconds to explain exactly what the hell is going on here, or even Megumi's expertise will not be able to put all the pieces back together again, do you understand me?"

He could tell from the way that her hands were clenching and unclenching as her eyes looked around the room that she was looking for something to bludgeon him with. Sano hoped that she wasn't thinking about hot soup or sharp knives. Holding up his hands in what he hoped was a placating manner, Sano said, "Now, Missy, it's not like I was trying to trick you or anything... It wasn't something I could talk about!"

Kaoru stopped her advance and cocked her head at him, eyes narrowed. Sano let out a sigh of relief, but knew that it was merely a temporary respite from his fate. Her voice was the sort to strike fear into the hearts of kendo classes and junior high school students alike as she said, "Well, now you are _going_ to talk about it." There was no room for debate.

Letting out a long breath, Sano sat down heavily on the nearest chair and said, "Kenshin... Kenshin saved my life once, ok? It's... it's how I know about the... the demon thing."

She stared, and some of her temper abated due to sheer surprise. Kenshin had saved... Of all the things that Sano could possibly have said, that was definitely _not_ one that she had expected. "He...when... what do you mean, he saved your life? From what?"

Sano's response was muttered so low under his breath that Kaoru couldn't catch all of it.

"I'm sorry... he saved you from... was it something involving gin?"

She watched in astonishment as even his ears seemed to turn a dull red. Swallowing, Sano took a deep breath and repeated himself, slowly.

Kaoru blinked.

Then she blinked again.

Then she quietly went and got one of the hidden bottles of beer she kept in the very back of the refrigerator, opened it, handed it to Sano without saying a word, and left him there while she went into the bedroom and silently closed the door.

After all, her father had always taught her that it was terribly rude to burst into loud, hysterical laughter about somebody else if they were actually in the room at the time.

It was probably about ten minutes later when Kaoru finally managed to get herself under control, splash water on her face, and return to the kitchen with a composed expression, only slightly marred by a persistent inability to keep her lips from twitching. Sano was sitting at the table, having finished the first bottle of beer and taken it upon himself to hunt around and find a second. Just this once, she supposed that she really couldn't blame him.

"So..." Kaoru said, cleared her throat, and tried again, "So... after that, what did you do?"

"What the hell do you _think_ I did? I went out and got myself laid so that situations like that damn well couldn't happen again!"

"Ah... that... um... makes sense," she nodded, focusing very intently on a spot where the linoleum was slightly cracked rather than looking Sano in the eye. After another suspicious coughing noise or two, Kaoru managed to say in a level voice, "And how exactly did you get into that situation? And how did Kenshin get you out of it?"

Sano's expression as he looked out of the window and collected his thoughts was more serious than she was used to seeing on his face. He took another swig of beer before he finally said, "You have to realize... after my folks died and I got sent to a new city where I didn't even know anybody... I wasn't exactly a happy, social kid in high school. I got into all sorts of fights, and when I wasn't fighting, I was probably gambling or causing other trouble. Hell, even before I left town, I doubt I would have graduated that year. Anyway... that night... I had decided to take off, and... well, I'd had a bit to drink, so I figured I might as well clean out my locker... and, ok, use spraypaint to creatively express my thoughts about some of the teachers. There was a back door that was never locked right, so I figured it wouldn't be any trouble, you know?"

There was a pause while Sano apparently performed his own investigation of her linoleum. Then he continued, his voice softer than usual, reflecting on long-ago events. "I don't even really know what hit me. All I know is that I was opening up my locker when I heard this noise, and before I could turn around, there was this pain in the back of my head... it was sharp and somehow... loud, I guess. If pain can be loud. Then the next thing I knew, I woke up in the gym, tied up... you know those ropes that they use for climbing?"

Kaoru nodded, biting her lip as Sano continued.

"Yeah... anyway... I don't even remember how many there were in the group, but they'd made good use of my being out of it. Couldn't move a thing. Couldn't even really look around, just down at whatever the hell they'd painted on the floor around where they'd trussed me up like a damn chicken. The only reason I know what was going on is because the one who was in charge told me. Told me exactly what they had planned."

The way that he said it, the slight twist to his mouth on the last word, told Kaoru all that she wanted to know about whatever had been planned for Sano. Possibly more.

"I was lucky; they barely had a chance to get started with the chanting part when there was yelling from somewhere and the next thing I knew, there was all sorts of other blood on the floor, and something flashing silver and amber in the dark." Sano paused and took another long swig from the beer bottle. "After they'd all been... taken care of, Kenshin cut me down. I'd seen him before, around school; I think he had been there even less time than I had, but he and I had never moved in the same circles, you know?"

Kaoru nodded again. She did know; she knew exactly what Sano meant. That _presence_ that Kenshin... that Battousai had had... Back in high school, he had definitely not been one to move in the same circles as the nerds and outcasts. He had shown up, and gone straight for...

"The ones who got killed..." Kaoru asked, several things clicking together, "Did you get a good look at them afterwards? I mean, did you know who they were?"

"Yeah... I recognized some of them." Sano mused, his thoughts clearly elsewhere as he continued. "After Kenshin cut me down... there was this moment after he'd flicked the blood off of his sword where he just looked at me, with those eyes shining in the darkness... and that sword. So I asked him if he was going to kill me. Because, you know, I kind of wanted a couple of seconds to prepare if he was. And all I could think was of course he was going to, after the way he'd sliced everybody else to bits. I think he was a little surprised by the question, because he just went totally still, like he hadn't really thought about it, like he was operating on instinct or some kind of plan. I don't think I've ever had five seconds of my life pass as slowly as when he was staring at me, just thinking. And then he sheathed his sword and told me to go get my stuff and take off."

"So... what did you do?" Kaoru asked as she poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the counter. She was asking more for the sake of keeping the conversation going than anything else. Later, when they were done talking, she knew that she was going to have a lot of thinking to do. Since she wasn't looking forward to the thinking part, it made sense to try to keep the talking part going for as long as she could manage.

Sano took another pull on his beer bottle and his expression turned slightly wry. "I took about two steps and turned back and asked him if he, um, needed any help disposing of the bodies."

She barely managed to keep from dropping the glass. "You... did _what?_ How did Kenshin react to _that_?_"_

"About the way that you just did, Missy," Sano answered with a slight grin. "Wasn't expecting it; think he figured I would just take off and never look back. He actually blinked. Then he said, 'Thank you, Sanosuke, but arrangements have already been made,' completely cool about it, and turned around. There didn't seem to be much else to say at that point, so I left."

"You... you just _left_?" Kaoru sputtered. "I mean... didn't you want to know what the hell was going on, and what Kenshin was doing there, and why... and... and... how could you just _leave_?"

"Missy, when some sword-bearing demon has just rescued you from a nasty, violent fate by chopping a large number of your classmates into tiny pieces, you don't necessarily want to stand around in the gym and talk about it."

"Listen, Virgin Sacrifice Boy, there are some circumstances where you take the time to _ask_ about things!"

"Believe me, I knew enough about what was going on from what they'd told me in the first place. Didn't really need anybody to fill in the blanks for me." His light tone didn't entirely hide the underlying tension in his voice. "Kaoru, I was just a kid; I was planning on running off that night anyway. What happened at school just made me run a little faster."

"Point. Sorry, Sano; I just... it leaves a lot of questions about things. Other things. Not necessarily things having to do with you."

"S'ok, I know it's a shock. It was a shock for me at the time, too. Anyway... I took off to see the world, and a couple of years later, when I was working in Japan, in some bar off a back alley in Kyoto, guess who walks through the door?"

"Looking for you?" Kaoru asked.

"Nah; didn't even really remember me until I started talking to him. I don't think he gets to meet people twice that often. He was really nice; wanted to know what I'd been up to and everything. We stayed up late drinking and I talked about where I'd been, what I'd been doing. Kenshin talked some too, about places he'd seen. Not so much about what he'd been doing, of course. I asked him if he needed somewhere to crash, so he ended up borrowing my couch for a couple of days. Said he had some stuff to take care of in the neighborhood. Didn't want to say much about it, but... I'd been keeping my ears open, and I gave him a couple of tips that he said were helpful. After that, well, I didn't see him again until he showed up here."

"Of all the gin joints in all the world?" Kaoru quipped, raising one eyebrow.

"Nah, ran into him on the street, over by the old high school on the east side of town. He said he was going to be in the area for a while, off and on, and we've pretty much been friends ever since."

It was a typically laconic explanation for Sano, and Kaoru was torn between pressing for more details and taking time to digest what she had just heard.

'_Kenshin saved Sano... from being... I don't think I can complete that sentence without time on my own to process it and recourse to chocolate...'_

She was brought out of her reverie by Sano saying her name in a tone which indicated that it probably wasn't the first repetition.

"Sorry, Sano; what?"

"I was just asking, Missy, how come _you_ know all about Kenshin?" His expression was thoughtful as he took another drink. "I mean, you haven't known each other that long, and it doesn't seem like a conversation he'd have on the first date."

"We haven't... I mean, we're not..." Kaoru stammered, frantically trying to think of a reason she could give for knowing that Kenshin was a demon without actually telling Sano any of the gory details.

He raised one eyebrow and said, "Oh, come on, Missy—I heard all about what happened in the mall. Hey, is that why you ran off while he was in the shower? Cause you'd found out?"

"No! That is NOT why I... I mean, Sano, Kenshin was just being... he was joking! Just, you know, kidding around. In front of my friends." Kaoru explained, making frantic motions with her hands. "Hey, hang on; let me get you some pretzels to go with that beer, or... or... nuts! I have some cashews, if you want; they're around here somewhere, won't take a minute." She really hoped that she sounded convincing, or that Sano was distracted enough by memories and beer and the offer of food not to hear the undertone of franticness.

Unfortunately, Sano had enough experience in the bar business to see through her attempt. In retrospect, she supposed that it was the hand gestures that had tipped him off.

"So if you don't know him from since you moved in... and you _do_ know that he's a demon..." Sano said slowly, "then where on earth do you...' He trailed off and then his eyes went very wide as he stared at Kaoru like he'd never really seen her before.

"What?" Kaoru asked, nervous.

This time it was Sano's laughter that rang out through the room, startling her.

"Um... Sano?"

"You... it's... _you're_ the girl who stole his sword!" he finally choked out. "Man, he got in _so_ much trouble for that!"

"T-Trouble?" Kaoru said, her own gaze wide as she stared at him. 'Wait... how did you... when did he... I mean, why was he talking about... um..." So much for her grand plan to pretend that she didn't know what Sano was referring to. On the other hand, she reflected, now that Sano had made his confession, and since he already knew that she knew, maybe it was best to get everything out into the open.

"Damn," Sano said, "If I'd known that was you, Missy, I would have made sure to introduce you sooner."

"What do you mean, introduce us sooner? How did you hear about my... um... stealing his sword?"

Sano still seemed to be having trouble getting his expression under control, but he said, "Talked about it in Kyoto, when I'd gotten drunk enough to ask him how come he had two scars on his face instead of just the one. I mean, hell, I figured anything that got close enough and fought well enough to mark Kenshin must have been pretty damn dangerous..." He trailed off again, either to stifle another laugh or hold back a comment she was sure would have had her throwing things at him.

Letting out a breath, Kaoru went and sat down. "It was mostly luck; I... um... think I distracted him."

"Well, he seemed pretty distracted while he was talking about it. Although that might have been the scotch."

Kaoru wasn't quite sure what to say to that. On the one hand, Sano had shared his story with her. On the other, it wasn't clear that Kenshin's explanation had included the minor detail of her having killed him, and until she knew one way or the other, she really didn't want to bring it up. As much as she might try to convince herself that it was because it was Kenshin's business if he wanted to talk about that, not hers, she knew that it was really that same darned "I used the wrong fork" feeling she'd felt in the pit of her stomach when she'd made that comment during the movie that was keeping her from bringing up details.

"So... um... what did he say about... err... never mind." She was not interested in hearing what Kenshin had to say about her; really, she wasn't. _'Although maybe a tipsy Kenshin would talk more? What would a demon get drunk on, anyway?'_

Kaoru had a sudden vision of trying to hold a serious discussion with a more-than-slightly-sloshed red-head who looked at her with hazy violet eyes and kept making emphatic gestures that had him falling off of his barstool.

'_No, no; with my luck, Kenshin would be the clingy, "Y're v'rry, v'rry pr'ty..." snuggly-type drunk and would end up snoring against my shoulder or curled up in my lap. And he wouldn't care we were in public, either. Ok, scratch that. New plan: keep the alcohol away from the demon boy.'_

Searching for a change of subject, Kaoru picked up the crockpot and went over to the sink to wash it. "So, you've known this whole time that Kenshin... Hey! Hey, wait a minute! Sano, does Megumi know about this too?"

"Um... well, you know, there hasn't really been a chance to, I mean, not exactly..."

"She has no idea, does she?"

"Err... no."

"Well, thank goodness for that," Kaoru murmured, running the water.

Sano came over to stand next to her, grabbing a dishtowel on the way. "Yeah, I mean, why worry her, right?"

"Noooo... I was thinking more "Thank goodness, because then I don't have to kill you in nasty ways, because she will." Kaoru said cheerfully. "And she's a doctor; she has way more sharp and pointy toys than I do."

Sano made a slightly strangled sound. "She ... that's... You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"Hmm..." Kaoru wondered, tilting her head in consideration, "Let me think... how many times have you been in the room when she's talked about, say, Kenshin and the best ways to set him up with her unsuspecting cousin, without your saying anything to her about the whole demon thing?"

"Not that many!" Sano assured her, then blinked as she glared at him, "I mean, almost none at all. Really."

"By curious coincidence, Sanosuke," Kaoru said, " 'none at all' is _precisely_ how much I believe you on that."

"Look, my not telling her about Kenshin has nothing to do with Kenshin! I mean," Sano corrected, holding up the dishtowel to forestall whatever Kaoru was going to say. "A man can't exactly tell the girl he's hoping to... no woman wants to hear her boyfriend tell the "I Was a Teenaged Virgin Sacrifice" story, ok? Even if she had believed that I wasn't making the whole thing up, which I'm not sure she would have, you think she would have taken me seriously?"

Kaoru bit her lip and let out a long breath. As much as she hated to admit it, the Rooster did have a point. After all, hadn't she been trying to not tell her friends—and particularly her little brother—about Kenshin's demonic ways? She hadn't even shared all of the ickier, bloodier details with her grandfather, and he'd been the one she'd asked to seal Kenshin's sword.

Handing the crockpot to Sano as a kind of peace offering, Kaoru answered, "No... you're right; it's not something you spring on the first date. Or even the first anniversary, really. On the other hand, Sano, I feel it is my duty as your friend who is not afraid to use her kendo knowledge when she deems it appropriate to point out that there's no time like the present to have that discussion. And by "the present," I mean "Go home, break out a bottle of wine to cushion the blow, and tell her, you idiot." Kenshin is here, he doesn't seem to be going away, and the longer you let Megumi think he's just a normal person she can make plots about, the worse it's going to be when she _does_ find out. Remember that time with Misao's friend Shiro and that nurse at the hospital?"

Sano's expression indicated that he clearly did remember it. In fact, he remembered it so well that Kaoru had to leap forward and rescue her crockpot from hitting the floor of the kitchen.

Taking it back, Sano said, "Ok... you win, Missy. I'll tell her about it as soon as I get the chance."

"Oh, I would do it sooner than that," Kaoru warned. "You don't want to have to deal with me if I have to put up with more insinuations from her about "my shiny new boyfriend," trust me."

"No, you're right; I don't," Sano agreed fervently. "Well... I should take the crockpot and let you get back to whatever you were doing. The Fox is waiting for me back at her place and all."

Kaoru escorted Sano back out and said goodbye to him, a look in her eyes that spoke volumes about what would happen to him if he failed to enlighten Megumi posthaste.

Once he had left, Kaoru locked and deadbolted her door before resting her head against it. She felt as if her thoughts were whirling around like the pieces of colored glass inside a kaleidoscope, long-established pictures shifting and swirling.

'_Sano was... Sano was almost... and Kenshin... I can't even finish any of those sentences. I don't even want to be having to start any of these sentences. I want all of these sentences and their dependent clauses to go far away and not come back.'_

She sighed. Yeah, that was going to happen.

'_Why can't I have a conversation that simplifies things for once? Nothing with swords or demons or flying attacky things or barely-avoided horrible fates... dammit; is it too late to break out the chocolate?'_

Kaoru looked at the clock and sighed. Then she went and got the bag of Hershey's Kisses out from the cupboard anyway and turned the TV to a show about gardening while she glared at it with enough force to incinerate an aspidistra. After fifteen minutes and far too much chocolate, she was forced to admit to herself that the distraction wasn't working. Giving up, she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.

'_Kenshin saved Sano from a nasty, squishy fate. OK, I can deal with that. Kenshin has also saved me from a nasty, squishy fate. The problem is...'_

She winced, finally having to face the question that had been plaguing her since hearing Sano's story. Well, the question other than wondering how the heck the students in Sano's high school had known he was a virgin, which she really didn't want to know the answer to.

'_If the people that Kenshin killed at Sano's high school were... I mean, if they were trying to...'_

The faint, long-ago memory of chant-like music echoing down a high school hallway drifted through her mind as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. And as she lay down for what she knew was never going to be a restful night's sleep, Kaoru found her mind returning to one question, one night that remained engraved in her memory, undimmed by time.

'_... does that mean...'_

She shifted restlessly under the covers, stomping on an urge to go over to Kenshin's apartment and bang on his door until he came out and answered her questions.

'_... does that mean that the kids at my school...'_

As the minutes marched sluggishly onwards, Kaoru grimaced at the clock.

'_Maybe if you just hit yourself with the pillow really hard, Kamiya, you could come down with a case of amnesia. 'Cause I really don't see anything else improving the situation.'_

Sighing, she prepared to count through the Periodic Table again. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Somewhere across town, in a dark warehouse that was exactly like a score of other dark warehouses, a single curl of cigarette smoke drifted lazily through the moonbeams streaming in through the window.

Walking carefully around the dark puddles on the floor, Hajime Saitoh scowled.

"Well, _that_ was singularly unimpressive," he remarked to the other occupants of the room. "I fail to see why you even needed to bother me with it, Shinomori. Unless of course your skills have declined in the past century."

The trench-coated man favored him with a glare as he re-sheathed his kodachi. "Your assistance in tracking this afternoon was appreciated." There was something close to grudging in Aoshi's tone on the final word. "And I would have thought that _you_ would be happy to have a chance to use your skills in a fight."

Saitoh snorted. "You don't think that _that_ counts as a fight, do you? Bunch of brainless morons; I'm surprised they knew which end of a sword to hang on to."

Aoshi's only response was a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. "What matters," he answered calmly, "is that we were able to find the information we sought."

"True," Saitoh conceded, tossing his cigarette to the floor and putting it out. "As much as it pains me that that red-haired idiot was correct. I didn't think that Henya would have been stupid enough to try something out in the open. At least not yet."

"Scaring a teenager in a public park late at night hardly counts as 'trying something out in the open,' Saitoh. Even Himura didn't think it had any meaning beyond that, or any connection to anything or anyone else, and you _know_ how paranoid he is on _that_ particular topic."

The snort that he received in response might have been vaguely affirmative. Or it might have just been annoyed. It was impossible to tell, even if Aoshi had cared to put the effort into it. Turning to the corner of the room, he said, "Hannya?"

The form that materialized out of the shadows bowed and said, "Yes, Captain?"

"I need you to take some information to Himura. Please tell him that we were able to successfully track Henya to this location, and that we successfully dealt with the resistance we encountered."

" 'Resistance'?" Saitoh snorted again, "Pathetic. Even the quality of idiot thugs has gone down nowadays."

Aoshi ignored him and continued talking to the masked figure in front of him. "Were you able to find any traces of Henya himself in your search?"

"No, Captain. He was nowhere to be found."

"That supports the hypothesis that Himura and I had; namely, that Henya acted prematurely, and on his own." Aoshi murmured.

"And that his disappearance means he's being reminded exactly why that was a bad idea?" Saitoh queried as he searched through his pockets for his cigarettes. The minute one was in his hand, it lit with a faint hissing noise, the ember glowing briefly in the dark room

"Indeed. I doubt that we'll see him again anytime soon."

"If that's the case, won't this location be useless to us?"

"The location," Aoshi replied, "would have been useless anyway now that it's been compromised." He looked at the dark forms lying on the floor and continued, "What is important is what we can learn from the evidence that remains. I believe that there's an office in the back; I'll check that, and you can see what can be learned out here." Saitoh nodded curtly, recognizing that the other man was better equipped to dismantle the traps and guard spells in and around the office. They could always trigger them on purpose later to take care of evidence disposal. Another warehouse fire would hardly attract attention in this part of the city.

"Hannya, you give a preliminary report to Himura. Ask him if there's anything in particular he wants us to check for, and let him know that he will have a full report in the morning."

Hannya bowed again, and then vanished back into the darkness without a trace. Aoshi turned, trenchcoat flaring with the motion, and stalked quietly back towards the rear of the building.

Looking down at the corpses, both human and not, Saitoh took a long drag on his fresh cigarette and considered where to begin.

"Morons," he said again.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Next Chapter: Two teenage-boys, one stressed-out Kendo instructor/science teacher, and a museum exhibition hall full of sharp and pointy objects. What could possibly go wrong?

Author's Note: Gold stars and slightly evil French Toast to everybody who guessed what Kenshin saved Sano from when Kaoru said, "I'm sorry... was it something involving gin?" For anybody who guessed it upon hearing that Kenshin had saved Sano's life in the first place, you get coupons for a free psychiatric evaluation, 'cause you're thinking way too much like me, and that's probably a Bad Sign. Paper towels for everybody who read Sano's explanation of what he did to prevent the situation from happening again while trying to take a drink. Oh, and additional kudos to those who guessed that Henya was Yahiko's attacker.

In this chapter: By curious coincidence, "none at all" is precisely the amount of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" I own. I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed about that. I also don't own "Casablanca," ("Of all the gin joints in all the world, she had to walk into mine..."). Or "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," in which Brave Sir Robin is not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways. I might someday acquire an aspidistra (which is a cactus-type houseplant), but I'm not sure it would survive for very long.

Reviewer Responses: Many people were mad at Sano next week for having known Kenshin was a demon and not telling Kaoru. Hee (:is secretly glad they weren't all mad at the author...:). To all those who wondered if that meant Sano was also a demon: Well... um... er... no. Not so much, no. :tries to stifle evil laughter and fails: In addition, people seem to be viewing a Halloween party with a nineteenth-century French literature theme with both amusement and terror. Hee, again. Personally, I'm looking forward to the possibilities. If anybody has any suggestions, or things they would really like to see, let me know!

Some Individual Responses: Sorry that I can't answer everybody; I am always happy to read people's reviews, but there are just too many to get to absolutely everybody. I continue to be very happy that so many people are reading and enjoying this story. It's a blast to write it. Well, except when the chapters are being stubborn. Then I want to hide under the desk until lured out with chocolate and/or caffeine.

Anne Novemberly: Thank you! I am trying to not leave Kenshin's POV and character development out, but I don't want to give too much away. Glad that Kaoru's changing perspective is also clear. I think Misao brought Angel Marie back to her apartment (the better to avoid the wrath of Megumi), but she's been spending time at Aoshi's apartment.

Cobaltsky: I think Sano came up with an explanation that was embarass—I mean, good enough.

Dea Mariella: No Kenshin and Kaoru (in spite of the offer of pocky.. sigh...), but stay tuned!

fantasy angel victoria: You are correct to doubt that it was random!

Holly: Look, a third reason Sano would know!

Indygodusk: Sorry that that part was confusing! Kaoru's kind of confused, and I guess I got confused trying to convey that.

Jade Lightning Wolf: Whee! Love the lovely fan art! Whee! It's fabulous! Me? Evil plans: hides clipboard and notebook: I don't know what you could possibly mean... And Saitoh just had to go to a conference about.. um... eraser shortages! Surprisingly, Taco Soup is an actual recipe, and very good—you just pour two cans of chicken stock, a can of black beans, cooked, chopped chicken, a can of corn, and a jar of salsa into the pot and heat it through. Perfect Kaoru recipe, really. Ah, "Beast"—awesome story!

Kaori Bibishii: There are actually twenty-eight volumes of the manga, and a very long anime series as well (which follows the manga storyline for the first two seasons, and then goes off in different, and often strange, directions).

Kute Anime Kitty: Don't know; although the thought of Kaoru trying to cook Peacock Fricasse is a tad bit frightening.

omasuoniwabanshi: Oh, well, you know, making Sano tell That Story to Kaoru was really punishment enough. Hee. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the bits about Kaoru at school and so on. I really like trying to balance it all out. Slightly crazy-making, but worth it.

Nekotsuki: Thank you! (I enjoyed plotting out that last line. Possibly too much) If you really want to bounce, you could always borrow my padded room.

Serena Conlon06: It's not the same creature; we'll find out more about it soon; please don't encourage the squirrels. They are already very scary.

Shattered Immortality: Thank you!

skenshingumi: Warped and original? Why, thank you! And, um, yes, it has been brought to my attention. Repeatedly. Sometimes with billboards.

Triste1: Thank you! I try to catch all the grammar stuff; sorry when things slip through anyway.


	28. Prudentia, Celeritas, Audatia, Fortitudo

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prudentia, Celeritas, Audatia, Fortitudo

* * *

There was something about bright autumn mornings that Kaoru particularly loved: the crispness of the air, the impossibly bright blue of the sky, the way the sunlight shone through the reds and golds of the leaves.

Unfortunately, this particular morning was nothing like that. Grey clouds pressed down on the city, rain fell in a steady, monotonous drizzle, and the occasional gusts of wind made branches clatter forlornly. Even the pigeons looked morose, fluffing out their damp feathers and making complaining noises to each other.

Holding her coffee mug in both hands, Kaoru scowled as she looked out the window.

'_I really don't want to go to work today... mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with the weather. I wonder if I could call in 'terminally confused'?"_

It wasn't just the rain, or the lack of sleep, that was causing her current mood. After operating with a certain set of facts for the past five years, things that she absolutely _knew_ to be true, she had suddenly been presented with a shiny new group of facts, from a trustworthy source, which meant that the first set of facts, the ones that she had focused on for the past five years...

Kaoru's frown deepened as she realized that she was doing it again: letting everything run in circles in her head. On the other hand, she kind of believed that she had a right to it, since she currently felt as if she was in one of those touristy snow globes with glitter and a little plastic igloo that had gotten thoroughly shaken up. Everything was whirling around and nothing had had a chance to settle, and every time she tried to examine things more closely, it all ended up in a confused swirl again.

If the business club in Sano's high school had been... well, if the reason that they'd gotten killed was because they were carrying out unspeakable black magic rituals in the gym... Kaoru couldn't believe that she was actually thinking that phrase in a context unrelated to very bad horror movies, but there it was. And if that had been true in that instance...

'_I don't want to think about this. I don't have time to think about this.'_ Looking across the room to the clock on the wall, Kaoru suddenly realized that her statement was more true than she'd originally thought. Swearing as she lept forward to grab her jacket, bag, and umbrella, she let out a startled yelp as her motion almost caused her to spill her coffee.

'_Dammit. Dammit. Hellfire and Dalmatians and... and... just... DAMMIT!'_

Fortunately, driving in the rain proved to be a wonderfully focusing activity, forcing Kaoru to pay attention to the traffic and the roads. By the time she got to school, the rain had even started to die down. She was worried that she was running late, but since she reached the classroom at the same time as Mr. Fujita, Kaoru decided her timing wasn't all _that_ off.

"Good morning, Ms Kamiya," her supervisor said.

"Good morning, Mr. Fujita," she replied. "How was your conference?"

From the way his expression darkened, it had obviously not been all sunshine and chalkboards. However, his tone was calm as he said, 'Not what I had hoped, but definitely useful. Since the issues weren't resolved completely, it is entirely possible that there will be similar meetings in the future. Should that be the case, Ms Kamiya, I trust that you will be prepared to take over classes again."

"Oh..." Kaoru replied, hoping her nervousness wasn't evident in her tone. It was one thing to know that someday she was going to have classes of her own, where she would achieve teacherness; it was another to have teacherness thrust upon her. On the other hand, it had gone fairly well the day before, and practice could only help. At least she hoped that was the case.

Whether it would or not was obviously not actually important to Mr. Fujita, who had entered the classroom and set his briefcase down almost before she had replied. Kaoru went inside and put her things down, muttering things from the day's lesson plans under her breath in an attempt to focus.

When her brother's class came in, Kaoru gave him a look that had him coming up to the desk as soon as he'd put his books down. If it hadn't been for the fact that it would have meant showing his annoyance to the other students, she was pretty sure he would have rolled his eyes. As it was, he managed to keep his expression neutral as he said, "What'd you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, first of all, don't even think about ducking out on me again like you did yesterday, because the next time you do it, I'm going to come over to the dojo and pound you into the ground," she replied, her tone brightly chipper. "Second, since this is the day you and Yutaro and I are going to the museum, we need to figure out transportation and timing. I have the afternoon free, but Misao and Megumi and I are getting together later on to deal with some Halloween stuff."

"Yutaro said his Dad was sending the car to pick all of us up and take us over there at two-thirty," Yahiko said.

'_Hmm...'_ Kaoru thought, _'I was kind of hoping to talk with Yahiko on the ride over there, but if Yutaro's father has already arranged for all of us to get picked up, that works, too. I wouldn't have to worry about parking, for one thing. Plus, Misao's grandfather lives over in that part of town, so she can just meet me at the museum and then Megumi can drop me off at school to get my car later.'_

"As long as the two of you aren't going to spend the whole ride playing with the buttons again, that sounds like fun!" she told him. She was spared his indignant reply by Mr. Fujita coming back from his cigarette break and sending the students one of his usual "Get back in your seats, now" glares. The rest of the school day passed without incident, which Kaoru was glad of.

As she was packing her bag, Kaoru said, "Mr. Fujita? I'm going to the museum this afternoon; Yahiko and Yutaro got permission to visit the new exhibition on swords and sword-making through the ages before it officially opens, and I'm going along to keep an eye on them. I was wondering if I should see about the possibility of a class field trip or anything like that."

"Thank you, but there really isn't time for it in the schedule this semester," he answered. There was a brief moment when it seemed like he was going to say something else about her plans for the afternoon, but when he didn't, she hurriedly stuffed everything else into her briefcase, said goodbye, and left. There was still time before the car was supposed to get them, and she had decided that she needed to buttonhole her little brother and at least start talking to him.

Looking out through the window, Kaoru was happy to notice that the day had cleared up slightly; while the sky was still mostly grey with clouds, there were patches of blue, and even some sunlight.

'_Not exactly October's bright blue weather... but at least it's not raining anymore, right?'_

Yahiko was still at his locker, and she was able to catch his attention fairly quickly. He looked around to make sure that none of his friends, acquaintances, or anybody who he had ever met in the course of his school career was nearby, ignored the way Kaoru's lips twitched as she watched him, then slung his backpack over one shoulder and came over to say, "What?"

"We have twenty minutes, the classroom should be empty, and we still need to talk," she reminded him.

"Oh... Now?"

"No, at midnight in the middle of the Glenicker Bridge. Yes, now. Come on; you know how punctual Yutaro always is."

Once they reached the classroom, Kaoru carefully closed the door and then went and leaned against her desk next to Yahiko. For several long moments, she just collected her thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to start the conversation.

'_OK... this isn't the first time you've told somebody that Kenshin's a demon... and if Yahiko says he already knows, I am going to... well, I don't know what, but it will probably involve demon-directed violence, and embarassing questions for my kid brother.'_

Yahiko opened his mouth to say something, probably about how long she was taking, but before he could, Kaoru took a deep breath and said, "OK, I... I don't know everything about the situation, but I said I would tell you what I knew, right?"

Her brother nodded.

"First of all... yes, you were right; those were charms around the sword. I asked Grandpa about the best way to hide it, and that's what we came up with. Second of all... this is going to sound weird, but Kenshin... um... well, Kenshin's not exactly human."

Yahiko blinked. "Oh," he said, "Um... so... if he's not human, then what...?"

"He's a demon."

"A demon? You mean as in forked hooves and a tail and pointy ears and fangs?"

"Kenshin doesn't have hooves!"

"How do you know? I mean, have you ever seen his feet?"

"Of course I haven't seen his feet! That's not the _point_, Yahiko! The point is, there are probably different kinds of demons, and Kenshin is one of the kind that doesn't have all that. Um... except for the fangs, sometimes."

"He has fangs? Really? That is _so_ cool!"

"No, it's not!"

"Is too! And I bet he has cool demonic powers and stuff, right?"

"Ya. Hi. Ko." Kaoru said in a carefully controlled voice. "Are you _listening_ to me? Kenshin. Is. A. Demon. As in very dangerous, and knows how to use that sword in lots of deadly ways, and isn't afraid to do just that."

The teenager shrugged. "Yeah, I figured. I mean... when he showed up at our door that night you were kidnapped, you could tell he was pretty damned dangerous. I just assumed he was a gangster or something. Like a hitman for the Mafia, or some totally unstoppable Yakuza assassin who lurks in the darkness with his sword."

"Ma—Yahiko, you really do watch too many movies, you know that?"

"Says the girl who just told me that this guy we know is a _demon_, hello!" Yahiko retorted.

"Yes, fine," Kaoru grumbled, feeling her face redden slightly. She wasn't sure how she had expected the discussion to go, but it seemed to have gotten away from her at some point. "Anyway... Kenshin is a demon; I'm pretty sure that whatever went after you in the park was also a demon; Kenshin will tell you more when he finds stuff out. Meanwhile, don't go back to the park at night by yourself."

"Is that, like, a demonic warning?"

"No, that is an older sister warning, with demonic support," she replied.

Yahiko's expression indicated that that was much less exciting than the first option, but he nodded and said, "OK, fine. Hey, so Kenshin uses a sword to fight?"

"Yes," Kaoru answered, ruthlessly stomping on memories of just how effectively Kenshin used his sword.

"That is _so_ cool!" her brother enthused, "Do you think he'd teach me some of his moves?"

"NO!" Kaoru almost shouted, "There is _no_ way that you are learning... first of all, Yahiko, you are _not_ going to ask him that! Second of all, it is _not_ "cool"!"

"Is so!"

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"Oh, look, this isn't an argument!" Kaoru snapped, rolling her eyes. "What Kenshin does isn't some kind of game, and it is not something for you to get involved with!" She exhaled, trying to calm down. "It's dangerous," she finally continued, "and... look, Yahiko, we can talk more about this later, once Kenshin knows more about what's going on. In the meantime, try to remember that demons equal dangerous, and don't do anything that gets you in over your head. I've only got one little brother, and I'd rather keep him in once piece, ok?"

With that, Kaoru turned to get her bag. Yahiko didn't say anything until she was almost at the doorway, then he hesitantly asked, "Hey... Kaoru? That night... was it a demon that grabbed you?"

She didn't quite turn to face him, and her voice was serious as she answered him, "Yeah. It was. Hence my position of authority on this matter, and why you should believe me when I tell you that there are some things you don't want to get involved in if you can help it, ok?"

"OK," Yahiko said. "So... Kenshin's a demon? Does everybody know?"

"Well, Kenshin knows," Kaoru said as they walked into the hallway together, heading for where they could see Yutaro waiting. "And you and I know. Oh, and Sano."

"Sano? Wait—_Rooster-brain _knows? How did _that_ happen?"

"Oh... you'll have to ask him about that, Yahiko," Kaoru replied, her good humor returning as she tried to hide the spark of mischief in her eyes. "I would hate to spoil the story."

* * *

She had to admit, the museum had really gone all out for the new exhibition.

'_Benefits of corporate sponsorship, I suppose,_' Kaoru thought as she looked up at the large, colorful banner marking the entrance to the exhibition rooms. Yutaro's father had not only contributed a large percent of the money needed to put the exhibit together, he had made good use of his contacts to allow the museum to get some truly spectacular pieces on loan, including some rare swords that were being shown in the United States for the first time.

'If the two of you would put your pens down," she said to the boys, who were clearly about to start an impromptu fencing match inside of the museum, "I've got copies of the map, showing what's in what rooms. It's pretty much chronological, with a section in each room devoted to technology and construction techniques, and then some examples of actual weapons. Try to remember that you're here to take notes for your project, ok? And don't lean on the cases. And especially don't drool on them."

"We don't _drool_!" Yahiko said, clearly offended. He drew himself up to his full height and tried to look dignified, although she was fairly sure it was for the benefit of the museum personnel bustling around and working on last-minute exhibition issues and getting ready for the evening's pre-opening champagne reception.

"Fine. We have until five; then we need to start heading out, because the museum will be closing and the caterers will be arriving for the party in here." _'And I definitely want you two out of here before the trays of hors d'ouevres start making an appearance.'_

Both boys gave short nods, then turned and strode eagerly into the first room. Kaoru followed. In the dim light, the leaf-shaped blades of the Bronze Age swords shone dully, and she went over to read the explanatory notes next while Yahiko and Yutaro looked at the display on how the swords were made and consulted with one another in hushed voices.

Not entirely certain how far back they were going to extend the historical segment of their class project, and definitely not wanting to interfere, Kaoru continued reading plaques and staying out of the way. Except for one instance near the Roman swords where she had to remind the boys that the museum was not the place to have a spontaneous gladiator practice, the afternoon passed smoothly.

"Hey, Kaoru?" Yahiko asked her, and she turned from where she was reading an excerpt from Fiore dei Liberi's _Flos Duellatorum_ about the four virtues of a fencer to look at him.

"Do you think Mr. Fujita would mind if some of our diagrams and stuff came from the exhibition? I mean... like that chart about the Center of Percussion, or some of the cutaway views? Yutaro was saying that we could probably get copies if we asked, and it seems kind of silly to spend time drawing them all again when we could be using that time to do other things."

Tilting her head in consideration, Kaoru finally answered, "I think that you could use a couple of the more complicated diagrams to illustrate your points, as long as you make it very clear that they are from the museum, and not original work. For simpler stuff, like pointing out the components of a sword, you should do it yourselves."

"Great!" Yahiko said, and she couldn't tell if he was more enthused about being able to use the museum diagrams or getting a chance to spend time making his own. It made her happy to see him so excited about classwork, and she made a mental note to remember to let her students pick out topics for class projects when she had her own classes someday.

Given Yutaro's family heritage, it was unsurprising that the largest, most impressive room was devoted to Japanese sword-making techniques and examples. While the two boys were eagerly taking notes on steel composition and carbon percentages and comparing the drawings of _masame-hada_ and _ayasugi-hada_ blades, Kaoru wandered around and admired the katana and wakizashi on display.

'_Wow... they've got weapons dating back to the Warring States Era! They really did go all-out collecting things for this exhibit!'_ she thought to herself as she looked at an example of an _odachi_ longsword. She had to admit; this was her favorite room as well, although it amused her that the atmosphere around this display seemed more shrine-like than historical. The katana at the very back of the room, in the central position just across from the entrance, even had a melodramatic shaft of sunlight falling upon it from one of the skylights, making it almost seem to glow. She wondered absently how they had managed that effect.

'_Nineteenth century...'_ Kaoru read to herself, _'One of the major blades forged by renowned swordmaker Arai Shakku, who devoted himself to expanding the art of swordmaking and creating more effective weapons... Which means that he wanted to create things that killed better, I suppose. Not that the Bakamatsu was a peaceful time period anyway.'_

Peering more closely through the glass, she wondered if the blade had been damaged at some point. There seemed to be small nicks or scratches all along the edge, and the steel seemed clouded by something.

'_I guess that getting any blade by such a famous swordmaker was an event, even if it's not in perfect condition. And they would have wanted to keep it in its historical state, so no fancy polishing. This was a sword that got used; no point making it look like it spent its entire existence at some temple.'_

Moving on, Kaoru found her attention caught by another sword, one she couldn't quite figure out. The blade was clearly Japanese; she recognized the curve and structure of it. The grip, however...

"It's a specific kind of _tachi_ called a _nihontou_; a Japanese katana blade with a Chinese-style grip," a voice from behind her said.

Kaoru jumped in startlement and spun around to face the man standing behind her. "Didn't anybody ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people?" she demanded, her temper flaring to cover her surprise.

"My sister used to say that all the time," he said, a faint smile turning up one corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry; it was not my intention to spook you. I merely noticed you looking at the sword and thought I could give you some information about it."

"Thank you; I guess I should have expected that the museum would have people making sure everything was set for the grand opening tomorrow!" Kaoru replied, accepting the apology. After all, there was no harm done, and she _had_ been curious. "Um...Isn't it a little dark in here to be wearing sunglasses?"

The pale-haired man shrugged. "Is it? I didn't really notice. I guess I'm just used to them."

It was on the tip of her tongue to speculate that wearing pants in that particular shade of bright orange probably provided enough reflected light to see by, but Kaoru restrained herself. Commenting on the fashion sense of perfect strangers was a habit best left to Misao.

"At any rate," he continued, "it's nice to see people who are seriously interested in swords. I take it those other two belong to you as well? The ones who seem about ready to salivate over the display cases?"

She grinned back at him, "That would be my brother and his lab partner. They're doing a class project on sword construction and history, so visiting this exhibition is perfect. My family runs a dojo on the other side of town, so Yahiko and I grew up with Japanese martial arts history. I don't think I've heard of a hybrid Sino-Japanese style before, though."

"Well, it wasn't as widespread or popular as other martial arts styles," the man replied. "Japanese-style swords spread to China starting with the thirteenth-century, and a Shaolin monk developed a style of kenjutsu based around their use. Then a general named Seki Keikou incorporated them into the weaponry of his soldiers. It all resulted in a Chinese style of kenjutsu called _watoujutsu_, designed to combine speed and flexibility."

"That sounds like it would be extremely effective; I've seen speed-based kenjutsu, but it was a Japanese style. Are there going to be demonstrations of that style as part of the events around the exhibition?"

Her new acquaintance's tone was regretful as he answered, "No... unfortunately, that won't be possible. As I said, it was never a widespread style, and kenjutsu in general is so rarely practiced nowadays... But you can feel free to come back here and ask more questions, if you like."

"Thank you!" Kaoru said, genuinely appreciative. "I'll try to take you up on that; it's always interesting to learn more about kendo and kenjutsu. Well, it is for me, anyway; side effect of growing up in a dojo, I guess."

"What style does your family teach, if I may ask?"

"Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu; it's a kendo school that focuses on the revitalization of the spirit and the development of individual potential. It's a fighting style that focuses on controlling and disabling your opponent, rather than killing them. Actually, it was one of the first kendo-focused schools in Japan to advocate non-killing principles!"

"Interesting philosophy; I can see where there would be uses for a school that focuses on winning a fight through controlling opponents." he said, nodding in agreement. "Well, Ms Kamiya, it was nice to meet you. I hope to see you again. Right now, however, I think the caterers are about to start wandering through here and muttering about flower arrangements. Far too annoying for me to listen to, frankly. I hope that you have a good evening."

It probably wasn't appropriate to giggle in a serious museum exhibition, but Kaoru did it anyway. "Yes, I can see where that would be—oh, rats! I'm sorry; we're not supposed to be in here this late either!" She turned and called across the room, "Yahiko! Yutaro! It's five o'clock already! Unless you're trying to copy Claudia and Jamie Kincaid and live in the museum, we need to get going."

Kaoru had to stifle a grin at the identical, mulishly reluctant expressions that crossed the boys' faces. Turning back to thank the man she had just met, she blinked when she realized he had already left when the caterers started walking in through the back door.

'_Nice to meet somebody at the museum who actually knows something about the things they're displaying. I wonder if he's here just for this exhibition, or if he works here all the time? Well, either way, he'll be around for the next couple of months, and I can always ask at the desk if I don't see him. Can't be many guys who work here and bleach their hair.'_

Walking over to the boys, she said, "Come on, you two; the museum and all the pretty sharp things will still be here over the weekend if you want to come back then."

From their excited conversation all the way back through the exhibition, Kaoru surmised that the afternoon had been a success. In fact, they had been so captivated by it that she had to practically yank them back from the Crusader swords and the diagrams about Toledo steel. When they reached the steps, Yutaro's family's driver was waiting for them, and he gave a perfect bow to the two young men as he opened the door for them.

"Yahiko, say hi to Dad! And tell him that I'll see him for classes this week, same as always!" Kaoru instructed her brother as he got ready to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow at school! Yutaro, please thank your father again for the chance to see the exhibition before it officially opened."

"Thanks, sis!"

"Yes, Ms Kamiya!"

As the car pulled away, Kaoru reflected, _'Oh, yes; definitely good to see the exhibition where those two could take their time and argue with each other and take notes without bothering anybody else. Well, except for me, occasionally. And lurking museum employees. Overall, no harm done, though, and they'll be able to do a great job with their project.'

* * *

_

It was barely five minutes before Misao pulled up, cheerfully honking her car horn so loudly that Kaoru was even more embarrassed than she had been at any point in the museum. As quickly as she could, she ran over to her friend's car and got in, saying, "You don't need to be so loud about it; I could see you perfectly well!"

"Oh, but this was much more fun! I thought it would get things off to a nicely festive start! You know, the Halloween spirit?"

"How, exactly, is the noise of a car horn in any way connected to the Halloween spirit, pray tell?"

"Well... you know, pumpkins scream in the dead of night... honk a horn 'til the neighbors r'gonna to die of fright..."

"Yes, very festive, Misao. And why wasn't Megumi picking me up again?"

"She's running a bit late; had something come up at the hospital. Anyway, never fear; I have gotten all sorts of fun boxes out of the attic, and we are going to have no trouble finding perfect costumes!"

"You do remember the theme, right? What, did your grandfather have a secret stash of nineteenth-century French clothing hiding in steamer trunks?"

"No! I mean, I don't think so. What I _meant_ was, the three of us are creative and intelligent young women and thus more than equal to the task before us! Have confidence, Kaoru!"

"Ri-ight," Kaoru said, rolling her eyes. Frankly, a chipperly eager Misao inspired many feelings in those who knew her, and "confidence" wasn't exactly one of them.

When they reached the house, Misao hollered a cheerful greeting at her grandfather in the kitchen, then dragged Kaoru back towards the rest of the house. True to her word, Misao had practically filled her grandfather's living room with an assortment of boxes, and the furniture was already strewn with pieces of fabric and assorted articles of clothing.

"Now," Misao said, "What was your plan for the party?"

"Same plan I have every year, Misao. I'm going to wear comfortable clothing and try not to get accosted by drunken weirdoes, because whenever that happens, they always whine about their injuries afterwards."

"You mean you and Kenshin aren't going to coordinate costumes? You guys would be so..."

"No, we are _not_ coordinating. We are not in fact going together. I am not sure Kenshin will be able to be there,"—it wasn't _exactly_ a lie, Kaoru rationalized, because he _had_ seemed to be awfully busy lately—"and so, you know, I figured I would just stick with what I know."

"Oh," the petite girl said, obviously disappointed. "Well, anyway, if you don't know what you're doing yet, you can help me look for more scarves! Oh, and we need to hunt through the costume jewelry."

"Scarves?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Misao began looking through boxes and pulling out bright pieces of fabric as she repeated, "Scarves! I'm going to go as Esmerelda, the gypsy from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_! Except that I'm going to wear shoes. So, I have a skirt, and a top, and now I just need to accessorize! You don't have any giant hoop earrings, do... um... never mind; silly question."

Rolling her eyes, Kaoru grabbed another box and started sorting through it. "So... Misao, are _you_ going to be coordinating your costume with anybody? You still haven't said a word about how your date with Aoshi went, you know."

"Uh..." Misao blinked and said, "It was... normal! A very normal date."

"Wow... that's a first," Kaoru teased, wondering why on earth her friend would pick that particular adjective.

"Well, I mean, it was terribly romantic, and... um... nothing weird happened. I mean, you know me; one date disaster after another, could tell you stories that would make your hair turn white, but for once I had a date and nothing unusual screwed things up."

"Uh-huh..." Kaoru answered. There was something about Misao's tone, the way her words were tumbling over one another even more than normal that didn't seem quite right. "So... where did you go for dinner?"

"Aoshi took me to this great Italian place; you would love the pasta," Misao replied, "Hey! You know what? We should go there! Or, if not there, out! The three of us—we haven't had a Girls' Night Out in so long, and this would be the perfect chance!"

"What—tonight?"

"Of course, tonight! I don't have plans, and Megumi doesn't have plans, and _you_ don't have plans..."

"How do you know that I don't... ok, fine, yes. I guess that if you and Megumi are free, it would be fun to grab dinner."

Because if she went back to her apartment for dinner, Kaoru knew, she would spend the evening staring at her plate while her brain ran around in circles. Again. Spending time with other people meant less time to get overly focused on her own problems.

"Yay!" Misao practically bounced out of the room as she exclaimed, "I'll go make a call for reservations, and you keep looking for scarves. Megumi should be here any minute."

Sure enough, even before Misao had come back into the room, Kaoru's cousin walked through the door. Megumi was arguing with somebody on her cellphone, her tone and posture frustrated as she asked, "What do you mean you "lost him"? This is not like Mrs. McCleary last year! This is not a small person! This is a large, difficult-to-misplace person! Of course I know that I handled the original paperwork; however, I have your signature on the... Look, just find him before the end of your shift, so that we can notify the next-of-kin, ok?"

Hanging up with a scowl, Megumi muttered, "Bunch of incompetent morons," and sat down on the only clear space left on the couch.

"Megumi! We're good for going out to dinner, right?" Misao said cheerfully as she came back into the room.

"Yes; we're fine. I just had to deal with that last phone call. Now we need to do something about Kaoru's clothes."

"I already told Misao; I'm looking for a plain costume. Actually, looking at this stuff, I think I'll go as Gavroche from _Les Miserables_. It's fairly easy, it'll be comfortable, and you both know that I make a great urchin."

Raising one elegant eyebrow, Megumi replied, "I meant we need to do something about your clothes for this evening. You look like a schoolteacher."

"I _am_ a schoolteacher, Megumi, and I don't see what's wrong with wearing this to dinner."

"Kaoru, she's right; this is supposed to be a Girls' Night Out—as in, fun, and frivolous, and.. well, not frilly, exactly, but definitely not what you're wearing right now. We'll just grab something out of the back of my closet once we're done with costumes."

'_Great... first two teen boys practically swooning over the weaponry displays, and now my cousin and Misao determined to play dress-up with me as the doll. I really just should have called in confused this morning.'_

"Kaoru, are you _sure_ that you don't want to do anything more interesting than a street urchin for the party?" Misao said imploringly. "You could be somebody else from the book! Or somebody else from some other book, as long as it wasn't some grungy boy."

"Oh, let her do what she wants," Megumi suggested "That way, at least if she gets a tray of drinks spilled down her front, it will only add to the grime."

"For the record, if that happened again, no matter what I was wearing, I'd still feel obligated to kill Sano," Kaoru noted.

"Not a problem," the young doctor assured her.

"So, Megumi; I'm going to be Gavroche; Misao is going to be Esmerelda; what are you going to wear this year? There are still boxes which remain unopened!"

Raising her nose slightly, Megumi loftily replied, "Actually, I have everything all planned out. And it is not going to involve my rooting around in boxes—no offense to the boxes, of course."

"None taken!" Misao giggled.

"Wow," Kaoru said, amused, "I can see you've put a lot of thought into this. Well, in that case, I'll just wait and prepare to be astonished by your choice, using the time between now and then to practice my awestruck expressions in the mirror."

Even Megumi laughed at that. For the next couple of hours, the girls rummaged through the boxes, finding enough brightly-colored scarves to give Misao a wide range of choices, and some clothes just this side of ragged that Kaoru declared would be perfect. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do about shoes, but she figured she had a little time to work on it. Besides which, who was going to be looking at her feet in that crowd?

Once the costumes were set, Misao insisted on dragging Kaoru upstairs to find her a dress. Kaoru submitted to it with reasonably good graces, especially after Megumi pointed out that borrowing something else to wear would spare her work clothes from needing to be dry-cleaned that much sooner. After a red dress that Kaoru rejected on the grounds that she felt like a tomato, and a pale green dress that Megumi suggested they either burn or cut up for cleaning clothes, Misao pulled out a deep blue dress that had several layers of chiffon layered to form a gently-draped mid-calf-length skirt.. The underlayers were shot through with threads of silver that added a subtle depth to the dress, but nothing excessively shiny.

"This one! It's perfect!" Misao declared happily, holding it up against Kaoru and looking at it with an expert's eye. Megumi agreed, and even Kaoru couldn't find anything too objectionable about it. The neckline was a subtle scoop, echoed in the back of the dress, and the wide straps tapered slightly in the front and back.

Once Kaoru was dressed, Megumi insisted on doing her hair, and re-applying her eyeshadow for the evening. Meanwhile, Misao was putting on her own outfit, a dress in a shade of purple that managed to be cheerful without being obnoxious. Megumi kept her black skirt but changed into one of Misao's less obnoxiously sparkly sequined tops, as well as slipping into dressier shoes and changing her earrings.

"Misao, you should open up a clothing store as a hobby," Kaoru teased as she watched her cousin try to put her friend's trademark braid up into a loose bun.

"It's only fun to do this with friends, though," the girl answered, "I can't bother strangers nearly as well as the two of you. Speaking of bothering, Megumi, could you drive? I have alcohol-related plans for the evening, and it makes more sense geographically for you to drop Kaoru off at school and me back here afterwards anyways."

"Mm-hmmm..." the young doctor replied around a mouthful of hairpins.

"Terrific! This is gonna be a _great_ time!"

'_I hope so,'_ Kaoru thought, trying not to fidget with the hem of her dress. _'I could really use one.'

* * *

_

Misao chattered brightly all the way to the restaurant, but Kaoru ignored it. At least mostly. Megumi was concentrating on driving, so Kaoru was really the only conversational partner available to the petite girl. On the other hand, Misao was perfectly capable of carrying on both sides of a conversation herself, so it wasn't like Kaoru had heavy responsibilities. Which was a good thing, considering the whirl that her thoughts were still in. She hoped that a night out with her two friends would help her get her mind out of the endless "Obsess, stress, rinse, repeat" cycle it had fallen into.

Fortunately for Kaoru, Megumi announced that they had reached the restaurant just as she was about to hitch another ride on the same train of thought she'd been on since Sano's explanation. She closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath. This was supposed to be a fun evening, something she could just enjoy as if there was nothing else bothering her.

As she got out of the car, she looked up at the restaurant in surprise. "Hey, Megumi... are you sure this is the right place? I mean, isn't it a little bit too... well, I mean, I've heard that they have a really long wait list for reservations and..."

'_I should have known enough to ask where they were planning on dragging me when Misao insisted that I wear this...'_ Kaoru thought, looking down at her dress. It wouldn't have been the first time Misao had decided that they absolutely had to go try some restaurant she'd read a review of without checking things like prices and availability. _'Oh well... I can always just try to get away with ordering soup or salad or something... or just eat breadsticks the whole evening... assuming they serve breadsticks in a place like this...'_

"Yup, this is the right place! Don't worry; I made the right phone calls and everything in advance. This time," Misao declared, bounding out of the car in a way which Kaoru was sure would lead to broken heels or broken ankles. Sighing, Kaoru waited until Megumi handed the keys to the valet and then headed inside with her friends. The restaurant was tastefully elegant, with a small band quietly playing light jazz music in the background and soft lighting that complemented the paintings on the walls. Waiters moved efficiently among tables decorated with arrangements of fresh flowers, and Kaoru felt a slight sinking feeling as she saw the plates with precisely arranged entrees and elegantly decorated deserts.

"We couldn't have just gone to that all-night waffle place again?" she muttered under her breath at nobody in particular. _'Good lord, they even garnished the soup with a set of matched sour cream spirals and parsley... unless it's cilantro...'_

She was so absorbed in surreptitiously gawking at the dining room, the diners, and the food that she almost ran into Megumi and Misao as they stopped. She hadn't even realized that they were almost at the back of the restaurant, in an area which seemed to be divided into private tables, some in booths and some in what looked to be small rooms of their own. Kaoru wondered if Misao had managed to get them a table behind the door to the kitchen... or possibly _in_ the kitchen, which explained why she'd gotten something so quickly.

Then she almost jumped out of her skin at the feel of a pair of hands on her shoulders, the warmth setting off tiny sparks along her nerves and the scent of ginger wrapping around her. Kaoru managed not to yelp, for which she was profoundly grateful, but did elbow sharply backwards as she spun around and glared into a pair of amused amber eyes.

Kenshin was wearing a black tuxedo that fit perfectly and somehow managed to make the color of his hair even more intense in the low light.

"Did you get a job as a waiter?" she demanded with annoyance, covering up the sudden rush of nerves at seeing him up close. She suddenly realized that he'd managed to catch hold of her hand and was raising it to his lips as he bowed slightly, his eyes never leaving hers. The way that she narrowed her eyes at him made him smile and she barely restrained an urge to try to punch him in the nose.

"You look very lovely, kitten," Kenshin said, his voice tinged with slightly husky undertones. "Shall we?"

Kaoru blinked at him, not understanding his last sentence until he'd threaded his arm through hers and was clearly starting to lead her towards one of the private tables.

"H—hey! What are you... I mean, this is supposed to be... I'm here with..." Turning to her friends for confirmation, she suddenly realized that both the other girls had disappeared, leaving her alone with...

'_They... they... I can't believe that they... the next time that I see them, I'm going to...'_

"You... you... unscrupulous, conniving... what did you do, call my friends up and ask them to help with setting me up?"

"Actually, they called me," Kenshin said easily, opening the door and ushering her into a room full of the subtle light of candles and the faint scent of flowers. "Misao said something about 'setting-up rights'..." He was careful to keep his body between hers and the door, even when he pulled out a chair for her to sit down. As he pushed her back towards the table, she felt the faint touch of his lips against her hair, and a brief moment where he seemed to be just breathing deeply.

As he took the seat across from her, his eyes caught the candlelight and glittered. Kaoru continued to glare at him, although part of her brain registered that at least surprise and annoyance had stopped the incessant round-and-round of her thoughts. She supposed that she should be grateful for that, but she was too peeved.

"And why exactly did you suddenly develop this burning need to listen to my friends and their potentially embarrassing schemes?" Kaoru demanded. She looked around for a menu to occupy herself, or possibly to hit him with, but there wasn't one on the table.

Kenshin shrugged easily and grinned at her across the table before he reached and caught one of her hands in his, his fingers smoothing repeatedly over her knuckles.

"Because, kitten, I owe you a discussion. And if we'd tried to have a talk in private in my apartment—or your apartment... well, I very much doubt that we would have gotten very far. At least not with the discussion."

His tone made something kick in her chest, but she kept her expression controlled.

"Isn't a restaurant a bit _too_ public? Kaoru asked tartly, raising one eyebrow.

"It's a private booth, and nobody's going to interrupt us, except when the waiter is bringing the food."

"And we're ordering without menus how, exactly?"

Kenshin flashed her another one of those bone-melting smiles and replied, "I took the liberty of arranging something special with the chef. Dinner's all taken care of, kitten; you just have to enjoy it. And ask whatever questions you want to have answered."

She was saved from having to come up with a brilliant and cutting retort by the arrival of a cheerfully efficient waiter, who brought a bottle of Evian, two salads, and a basket of fresh bread, along with a tiny pitcher containing more dressing if they wanted it and some herbed butter. In spite of herself, Kaoru was impressed. Although she had to admit that it was an unusual tactic to try to ply someone with food and drink in order to get them to _ask_ questions.

"So... what have you been up to?" Kaoru asked while she was busily spearing a grape tomato with slightly more force than actually necessary.

"Work, mostly," Kenshin replied with a twinkle in his eyes that said he knew she was just asking to pass the time during the salad course rather than starting with serious questions. Kaoru looked at him over the rim of her water glass and bit her lip.

If that was the way he wanted to play it... fine.

"Alright, _Battousai._ Tell me this. Why, exactly, do I have this strong feeling that I really, _really_ don't want to know what was behind that auditorium curtain back in my high school?"

* * *

Next Chapter: Dinner. Discussions. And the very real possibility of Kaoru trying to see if demons can survive a breadstick up the nose.

In this chapter, I don't own: _From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_, by E.L. Konigsburg (in which Claudia and Jamie run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," ("Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them,"), "October's Bright Blue Weather," by Helen Hunt Jackson, or the Argument Clinic routine from "Monty Python," or the music from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" ("This is Halloween; this is Halloween; Pumpkins scream in the dead of night; This is Halloween; this is Halloween; Trick or treat 'til the neighbors' gonna die of fright..."), _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_, or _Les Miserables_. The Glenicker Bridge is the bridge just outside of Berlin where spy exchanges and other nifty secret agent stuff happened during the Cold War. I don't own that either. And I tossed in a reference to a particularly long katana (_odachi_, according to Wikipedia) as a shout-out to "Samurai Deeper Kyo," which is owned by various people who are not me.

Fanart note: Yay! The extremely talented Jade Lightning Wolf has posted another wonderful picture, this one featuring a view of a freshly-showered Kenshin and handcuffed Kaoru energetically working to get herself free. It's over at Deviant Art, under: http/jade-lightning-wolf(dot)deviantart(dot)com/.

Author's Note: First of all, sorry that this is late; real life showed up yesterday in the form of a last-minute going away dinner for a friend. And, in addition, this chapter ate my brain. Gah. On the other hand, look! An approaching discussion! Information about the history and construction of swords was taken from Wikipedia, an on-line encyclopedia. Fiore dei Liberi's "Flos Duellatorum," which was written in the early fifteenth century, is a handbook of European weapons-based martial arts, including several chapters on various types of swords and on fencing. The four virtues of a fencer, Wisdom, Speed, Audacity/Courage, and Strength, form the title of this chapter. The "Center of Percussion" is the part of the blade that can deliver the strongest blow with the fewest vibrations. Masame-hada (straight grain) and ayasugi-hada (wavy grain) are two of the main grain patterns found in Japanese blades (ie, like the way wood has a grain). Katana, of course, are the Japanese longswords, and wakizachi are the short swords. Samurai generally carried them as a set, known as a daisho. An _odachi_ is a katana that is particularly long. As far as I was able to find out, a _tachi_ is a Japanese-style which is suspended by cords rather than stuck through a sash.

Special Note: After next week's chapter (which will be punctual, never fear! Barring unforseen circumstances and/or invading squirrels, of course), I will be on hiatus until mid-September, since I am going to be doing fun things like traveling and moving and generally not having much Internet access. However, one of the things I'm thinking about doing while away is a set of shorts with scenes that we don't actually get to see in the main "Moonlight" story. So, if you have requests/suggestions, feel free to include them!

Reviewer responses: Did I mention that this chapter ate my brain? Ok, then. Hence the shortness of the responses this week. Thank you to everybody who reviewed! The feedback and commentary make me very happy. It was great to see people getting such a kick out of the backstory I inflicted on poor Sano. For those who wondered about the "gin" line— Sano was mumbling something about "virGIN sacrifice," and Kaoru only picked up on that one syllable. Probably figured that "gin" made sense, since he's in the bar business. A couple of people asked for details on what happened to Sano; I tried to have Kaoru thinking about it a little bit in this chapter, and there will be more details next time around! And, glad that people also liked the revelations about Henya, and what that might mean.

AnyaRei: Nifty official announcer voice! Kaoru is, by the way, more than willing to test the "you can't REALLY knock anybody out with a pillow" theory out on Kenshin. Saitoh, I think, is just always that way.

Dea Mariella: Saitoh got asked to help because he had some tracking skills that were helpful. Saitoh and Aoshi working together like this is actually based off of a specific section of the Jinchuu Arc (which is the third story arc of the manga, the one that never got animated). And, yes, Henya is from the Kyoto Arc of the storyline.

Indygodusk: Oh, I don't think either Saitoh or Aoshi are talking about their ages, really. And, you're right, Sano's face while having to tell Kaoru that story would be a great picture.

Jade LightningWolf:whistles innocently about future plans:

Kat Angelle: Plot, indeed! And more to come!

Kat Morning: Cool that you are sharing the story with others! And, thanks for the literary reference; that looks like a fun thing to keep in mind.

Lyla: The thing to keep in mind with those chapters is how little time actually passes—I actually worked it out at one point and included it in an author's note, I think.

Nalaravathered: Oh, yes. Many complications. Sano went to a different school; he was actually in a different city, I think.

Nekotsuki: Thank you! The gin line just sort of popped up and demanded to be used.

peridot3783: Thank you! One of the challenges of the story has been to see how Kaoru's thoughts and perspectives change, and what she can figure out.

Pinay Tiger: Thank you! Glad you're back!

Rinelwin: There will be fluff, as long as Kaoru manages to keep herself from inflicting bodily harm on him.

Serena Conlon06: Yup, poor Saitoh, nobody to fight but a bunch of easily-dealt-with minions. :flees ninja squirrels:

Shattered Immortality: Hang on; hard to type with this straitjacket on. Glad that you liked it! And, Kaoru will get a chance to use her mad kendo skillz.

skenshingumi: Thank you! I was trying to figure out how Sano would have met Kenshin, and this idea just kind of snuck up and whacked me over the head. After I'd stopped laughing, I realized that it was absolutely the way things had to have happened.

sueb262: Thank you! I am thrilled that you are enjoying the story so much that you are sharing it.

Triste1: Don't worry, this chapter is longer. And, glad that you enjoyed the previous one so much!

Via x Infinito: Well, this time, it actually wasn't even HIS idea... although I think Kaoru will blame him anyway.


	29. Answer and Question

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Answer and Question

* * *

Kenshin took a slow sip from his glass as he gave her with an intent, considering look. "Ah," he said at last, "I was wondering if you'd had a chance to talk with Sano... And, you're right... it was a very good thing that that curtain was down. And that you didn't go back there during your little fire-setting expedition."

She glared at him. Little fire-setting... "Hey, I went back into the auditorium, in spite of everything. How much worse could it have... how much worse _was_ it?"

"I know; I know that you went back in there. I was very impressed ..." Kenshin trailed off before he quietly said, "It was much worse, Kaoru... at least everything in front of the curtain was still completely human."

"And the things that were... behind the curtain?" Kaoru demanded, fighting back a shudder. Her nightmares had been bad enough as it was; she wasn't sure she really wanted more specific information, but she knew that it would be worse not to know. The point of this exercise was to get everything out in the open, after all.

"Had stopped pretending that they were," Kenshin answered.

"Are you telling me that the guys on my high school football team were _demons_?" Kaoru demanded.

"Yes... well... not the linebackers." Kenshin amended.

"Well, that explains why they had that winning streak," she muttered. "Were they always demons? I mean, were they demonic little kindergartners at some point?"

Kenshin's expression was hard to decipher as he said, "No... they..." He stopped and then started again. "There are some ways for humans to... well, sacrifice their humanity and become demons. There are benefits to it that can make that kind of thing fairly attractive, if you don't care about the costs."

Remembering Sano's experience, Kaoru pointedly asked, "Costs to themselves, or costs to other people?"

"Both. It depends. Ah, here's the soup."

She turned in surprise as the waiter knocked and then opened the door. Not really sure how to continue the conversation when somebody else was in the room, Kaoru was silent while the salad plates were cleared away. As the waiter was serving both of them, she said," That's fascinating, really, but you still haven't told me how _you_ ended up there. I mean, after what I heard from Sano, I'm terribly curious."

"I can imagine," Kenshin said dryly. "I've been wondering the same thing about you, actually. Quite a coincidence that we ended up meeting like that, all things considered."

Her hand tightened on the spoon as the waiter bowed slightly to Kenshin and left as silently as he'd arrived. "Um... why... why would you want to know about that?"

"Fair is fair, kitten. You get to ask questions; I get to ask questions. Otherwise, it's not a discussion, it's a monologue. Try the soup; they make a wonderful crab soup with roasted red peppers."

Kaoru absently swirled her spoon in the spaces between the spirals of sour cream. She hadn't been expecting to have to talk about herself, or her own past. Rats.

"Fine," she said. "It's really not that interesting; I had left my English notebook in the auditorium that afternoon and headed back to get it because we had a major test the next day and I needed my notes."

"You biked back to school at night just to get a notebook?" Kenshin asked, raising one eyebrow. "Kaoru, do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been, by yourself?"

"Well, let me think... um... there could have been demons doing unspeakable things in the auditorium and I could have ended up having to steal one of their swords after killing him and then _burn down_ the school?" Her expression was fiercely annoyed as she looked across the table at him.

"First of all," Kenshin said, "I was referring to the biking alone at night, which was a danger you could reasonably have been expected to be aware of. Second, please don't compare _me_ with those idiots."

"Fine," Kaoru retorted. "Give me a reason not to put all of you into one category. What, exactly, are you, and what do you do when you're not bothering me?"

"Ah... I was wondering when you'd get around to asking that," Kenshin remarked, his mouth quirking up in a smile at her directness. His expression was so amused that she was strongly tempted to throw soup at him. Possibly the entire bowl. Except that it he had been right, it was really good soup, and she refused to give Kenshin the satisfaction of wasting exceptional food on him. If satisfaction was the right word when if came to having soup dumped all over you. Before she could make a decision one way or another, Kenshin's expression had changed to something more serious and reflective, and he was staring at the candle's flame as if he was thinking of something entirely different and very far away.

"There was a time," Kenshin mused softly, "when humans believed—really _believed_-- in demons and spirits and all the things that live just outside of your reality. There was a time when there were those among you who knew how to recognize danger signs, who knew what to do about them. Nowadays, anything supernatural is restricted to television and foolish rubber masks at Halloween and most humans wouldn't notice a pack of demons if they were standing next to them at the bus stop."

Kaoru almost opened her mouth to ask what a pack of demons would be doing waiting at a bus stop, but managed not to. Now that Kenshin was actually talking, now that she had a chance to get some answers after five long years, there was no way she was going to interrupt him just to be sarcastic.

Continuing, Kenshin said, "But just because nobody notices them doesn't mean the danger has gone away. In some ways, it's worse, because nobody grows up learning what to do and what not to do and what to look for, how to protect themselves. Not just against direct attacks, but against... certain forms of persuasion. There are things that demons, _real_ demons can offer that are... very attractive to humans."

"Like, say, popularity, athletic ability, or perfect blonde hair?" Kaoru asked. '_Standard popular teenage boy, out to make trouble and get laid... standard popular teenage girl... same thing, but with more fashion and fewer cars...'_ she thought. _'Oh, yes, I can see where demonic offers would go over very well.'_

"Exactly. Not to mention wealth and power... although in high school, popularity pretty much gives you as much power as anybody could want. Don't let your soup get cold just because the conversation is so fascinating, kitten."

Kaoru rolled her eyes at that, but did take another couple of spoonfuls as he continued talking.

"Of course, they almost never think of the consequences. Or of the price that they'll be asked to pay. Not at first. The group that grabbed Sano... they were... well, let's just say that they needed a way to pay off some debts, and quickly. They had been rather irresponsible in the way that they made the contract in the first place, actually."

"Probably a good thing that they didn't end up going into business, then," Kaoru observed, seeing an opportunity to confirm the suspicions she'd had about the connection between what had happened to Sano and what she had read about in the newspaper accounts.

"Yes, it really was," Kenshin agreed, then flicked startled eyes up to her face before giving her a slow, admiring smile. 'Oh, _very_ nicely done, kitten," he murmured, "Very clever."

She blushed and fidgeted under the golden sparks in his gaze, but was saved from replying by another polite knock on the door as a waiter came in bearing a basket of bread that smelled like it had just come out of the oven, and stayed to ask Kenshin several questions about the wine selection as another waiter cleared the table from the soup course. The main course, perfectly cooked steaks thickly coated with cracked pepper and served with baby vegetables and mashed potatoes with rosemary and garlic, smelled wonderful as a third waiter carried in tray with the plates. Kaoru, watching him set it down and move efficiently out of the way of the first waiter, picked up her glass. She went to take a drink and almost choked at the feel of something brushing lightly against her ankle.

'_Is that... is Kenshin... playing footsie with me?'_ Kaoru thought, glancing to where he was sitting and saying something to the waiter. Feeling her gaze on him, he flashed her a brief, mischievous grin before returning to his discussion with a very serious expression. Considering that his foot was still lightly caressing her ankle and occasionally venturing to her calf, it was fairly impressive multi-tasking on his part. And entirely the wrong angle to kick him without hitting herself. Just when she was working out if there was a way to do it anyway, he stopped and finished the conversation he was having as if nothing at all had just happened under the table.

Fine. If he wanted to pretend that nothing had just happened, Kaoru could certainly do the same thing. Especially since she wasn't quite sure how to bring up what had just happened without either blushing or leaving herself open to sarcastic or suggestive remarks.

The first waiter returned, bringing a bottle of wine with a label that even Kaoru recognized and waited while Kenshin tested it before nodding his approval. Once the wine had been poured, the waiters left with the same silent efficiency, and she was once again alone with Kenshin.

"I hope that you approve," Kenshin said as he began cutting his own steak.

"It looks wonderful," Kaoru responded, "And I'm particularly happy that you ordered something where we were given these lovely steak knives. You still have some explaining to do."

He laughed at that and gave her another wickedly sparking glance before his face and tone turned serious again.

"My responsibility, to put it plainly, is to make sure that this world and the humans in it are protected from that which threatens it. Anything that crosses over with harmful intent, participants in any harmful pacts which have been made, anything that seeks human lives or human souls to feed off of, anything which threatens the balance here... "

"You eliminate," Kaoru finished for him softly.

"I eliminate," Kenshin agreed after a moment, looking directly into her eyes with an expression full of amber and shadow. "Along with any witnesses."

There was a moment of utter stillness then, during which Kaoru felt a shiver of that same fear she'd felt in the moment when his eyes had met hers in the auditorium. She had a sudden panicked vision of the last meals given to condemned prisoners, and it took real effort not to clutch at the handle of her knife in defensive panic.

"So why didn't you eliminate me?" she asked finally, keeping her tone calm. "You had time to; I know you did. Why did you... do what you did instead?"

Raising his glass to his lips, Kenshin replied, "I think it's my turn to ask another question, kitten. We've already covered why you came to the school that night... how about you tell me how exactly you ended up in a closet, sitting on that ridiculous bucket—without even turning it over, I might add—instead of heading back home to hide under your bed?"

"There was always too much stuff under my bed," Kaoru replied absently, wincing inwardly. It was one thing to grill Kenshin about unpleasant subjects; being the one grilled was an entirely different level of disturbance. She took several more bites of steak and mashed potatoes before finally replying.

"When I ran... I thought about running away, but... All I could see was how dangerous you were, and there was no way I was leading danger like that back to my family... And I wasn't happy with the idea of leaving you to stalk the school, knowing what you might do..." Her tone was quiet, introspective, and she couldn't quite look him in the eye. "I mean, I didn't know... well, anyway, I wasn't going to let you, not if I could help it. And it was pretty clear that you weren't going to let me get away, anyway."

"So why did you hide, instead of trying to attack?"

She couldn't believe that she was having this discussion, but answered, "I'm short... I mean, I'm used to fighting opponents who are a lot, well, bigger. And scarier. Although not as scary as you are. Were... are. Dad always taught us that it's vital to be able to re-direct an opponent's energy, and he especially told me that it's not a bad thing if whoever I'm fighting looks at me and just sees a little girl. Makes them careless. And if they're careless, then you have an advantage that outweighs size or strength. You were expecting helpless and scared, so I figured that the only chance I had..."

"Was to act the way that I expected," Kenshin finished, nodding in agreement and approval. "I'm impressed that you kept your grip on the knife so well."

"Taped it to my wrist," Kaoru shrugged, reaching for her wineglass. This conversation definitely required a drink.

"You taped..." He seemed genuinely at a loss for words, but finally said, "Well, that explains it."

"My turn. Did I actually... I mean, were you really... I mean, um... how long were you..."

"Dead?" Kenshin helpfully finished for her. "Yes, you did; yes, I was; and I would guess about a half an hour, although, really, it was hard for me to tell exactly. The building was on fire when I woke up again, if that helps."

"Mmm... ok. How come you didn't _stay_ dead?"

"If we're taking turns," Kenshin said as he cut more of his steak, "then I get to ask the next question. Why did you take my sword? It's not like it was nicely propped up against the wall. You would have had to actually move my body to get to it, especially since you took the sheath as well."

"Can we _please_ not talk about your body?" Kaoru implored, then blushed at the way Kenshin raised one eyebrow. "I mean, um, when you were dead. Or when you weren't. Or at all, and...um... it was because I was worried about what would happen if some idiot found it and decided to start swinging it around or something. I mean, for all I knew, it was possessed or something."

"For future reference, kitten; try _not_ to randomly pick up potentially possessed weapons, ok? It just means that I end up with more work to do."

She scowled at him and stabbed at a carrot with her fork. "I said it _might_ have been possessed! And what exactly was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave it there; that would have been dangerous!"

"You could have left it to burn with the rest of the school," he shrugged. "Disposed of it that way."

"Excuse me, but I know what the melting point of high carbon steel is, and even assuming that your sword doesn't have spiffy anti-fire charms or something on it, the school fire was _not_ going to reach that temperature. Well, unless the boiler exploded, maybe. But that was on the other side of the building and... look, I just wasn't going to leave a dangerous weapon out in the open, where it could be found by anybody else who had never seen what it was capable of!" Kaoru snapped, eyes flashing.

"True enough," Kenshin agreed, "And I appreciate that you wanted to get it someplace where you could protect it as much as possible. That was... well, considering the stresses you must have been under after everything else..." he trailed off.

"Precisely!" Kaoru agreed "Although if you have specific suggestions or a pamphlet or something about demonic weapons and how to deal with them, I would appreciate it for next time."

Startled, Kenshin looked at her, his expression blank. "N-Next time?" he finally managed. "Oh, no, I don't think..."

"Kenshin, I've gotten kidnapped, Yahiko got attacked, you've been running around doing "work," and I strongly suspect that something happened to Misao that she's not talking about yet. How exactly is it _not_ practical and sensible to take preventive measures, hmm?"

"Jineh is dead, what happened to Yahiko is being taken care of, and Aoshi can take care of Misao if..." Kenshin countered.

Interrupting him, Kaoru exclaimed, "Ha! I _knew_ that he was another demon; I just _knew_ it! And don't change the subject. I'm not planning on charging into dark alleys or anything; you're the one who said that humans nowadays don't know how to protect themselves, and I'm saying that if you have any tips on how we could, I would appreciate them."

Unspoken was her thought that being around Kenshin was likely to mean running into more supernatural things than your average bear. Especially if...

'_No! Just because this is... date-like doesn't mean that we're actually on a date. And definitely not that it will happen again. This is a discussion that was long overdue, and after the air has been cleared, we can just go back to... well, "normal" really isn't the word, but... um... something that makes my life less confusing, which further date-like activities would definitely NOT do...'_

Shoving those thoughts aside for the moment, Kaoru continued, "Besides which, it's not just for me; what about Yahiko? I mean, I sincerely doubt he was being pestered by evil flying kittens..." Kaoru paused and blinked. "It wasn't evil flying kittens, was it?"

"It was something that shouldn't have been attacking your brother."

Her eyes narrowed and she said tightly, "_Anything_ attacking my brother is something that shouldn't be attacking my brother. Be more specific, please."

Kenshin had the grace to look apologetic as he replied, "You're right, of course; what I meant was, it was something that shouldn't have been out in this world in the first place."

"Wait—_what?_" Kaoru demanded, "It shouldn't have been... you mean that somebody made... made one of those pacts that you were talking about, or... or..."

"No, it wasn't a pact," Kenshin answered, "And before you start worrying about it, nothing was trying to grab Yahiko for blood sacrifice purposes."

Kaoru opened her mouth, looking as if she was about to ask a question Kenshin had no intention of answering.

'_There is no way—NO way-- that I'm going to tell her that Hennya would have killed her brother just for sport.'_

"So, kitten, what on _earth_ did you tell your grandfather to explain why you suddenly had a sword and needed to put charms on it? I mean, did you tell him that you had been engaging in constructive arson, or did you leave that part out and just focus on how you had to kill a demon in the Home Ec room?"

"Of course I didn't tell him anything about the fire! Or, um, about... well, the auditorium. Or the Home Ec room. It was bad enough telling him about the sword!"

Kenshin nodded his head in understanding. "Of course; I can see where that would be difficult to tell him, especially considering his age. Was it very disturbing for him?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you _kidding_? He thought it was great! One of _his_ grandchildren, happening upon a demonic weapon? Yes, I said, "happening upon," deal with it. If I'd told him the details, nothing would have stopped him from charging over to the school, charms in hand, ready to slap them on _anything_ he thought might _possibly_ be demonic, including the pigeons and the biology class's guinea pig, and yelling "Demon, begone!" at the top of his lungs."

"That would certainly have traumatized the guinea pig," Kenshin agreed before eating some more vegetables. "And once you'd explained how you'd... err... "happened upon" my sword, he suggested putting charms on it and keeping it under your bed? Or was that you?"

"Aren't we supposed to be alternating questions?" she demanded.

"Yes, we are. So, who came up with the idea?"

"Hey! You just said we were alternating! That makes it my turn!"

"I answered your question. That leaves you with one to answer."

Kaoru closed her mouth as she mentally replayed the last parts of their conversation, then glared at him. "Fine. He said he couldn't destroy it, and he couldn't do the equivalent of locking it up in a vault, then he suggested that he take it to a temple he knew and hide it. Then I said that I really wanted to know where it was, and I _didn't_ want anybody at some temple to start asking awkward questions, because I just knew that they would.. er..."

"Not be as easy to fool as your grandfather?"

The look she gave him clearly wanted to be indignant, but it failed in the face of how close his surmise was to exactly what she'd been thinking.

"As I said, awkward questions would have resulted. Besides which, it seemed very important to me to have it where I could keep more of an eye on it. That way, I wouldn't have to have nightmares about you suddenly turning up with... um... never mind."

The way that Kenshin frowned indicated that her reference to nightmares had not gone unnoticed. Based on his behavior the other night, when he had gotten a taste of what her bad dreams could be like, she knew that he was unlikely to let the issue drop. Hastily forestalling anything he might say, Kaoru blurted out, "So... why didn't you kill Sano?"

Kenshin blinked. "Why didn't I kill... _Sano_?" he asked, perplexed. It was clear that he hadn't expected that question.

Happy to have successfully changed the subject to something less personal, Kaoru repeated, "Yes, why not? He said he was sure you were going to; you said that witnesses get eliminated. Do potential sacrifices get special privileges? Do not get killed, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars?"

"Ah... no... I mean," Kenshin twirled the stem of his wineglass between his fingers thoughtfully. Finally, his expression turning serious, he sighed and said, "Sano was right; I should have killed him. The rules are there for a reason, because..." He put the glass back down and continued, "But you asked why I didn't kill him. And that's a good question to ask. Not to be cliché, but it was at least partially because he asked me if I was going to and clearly expected the answer to be yes. He had enough spirit to do that; to not just turn and run or break down crying, even after what he had been through, after what he had seen. Most people don't... don't show that kind of strength."

"And that strength made him worth saving?" Kaoru asked, trying to understand everything as clearly as possible.

"Yes; it was a good indication that he would be able to get over it, that he wouldn't have any problems afterwards. Or at least nothing that he couldn't handle. Besides which, I knew from some of the things I'd overheard that those idiots considered themselves to be extremely lucky to have caught Sano when he was obviously heading out of town and wouldn't really be missed. So I knew that he was leaving anyway, rather than sticking around where he might get asked awkward questions or be faced with the aftermath."

Kaoru nodded, thinking this through as she absent-mindedly swirled her fork around in the mashed potatoes. There was something that Kenshin was leaving out, she was sure of it; about why exactly they usually killed witnesses, and that was definitely something worth asking him...

"Assuming Misao was right at the mall, how on earth is it that you're still a virgin after all this time?"

She was positive that her face was the color of the wine in their glasses. "I... you... _WHAT?_ Why ... that ... It's ..." Kaoru choked out, after several not entirely successful attempts to breathe.

"I said, how on earth ..."

"I _heard_ you, you... you... perverted, unscrupulous, overly-personal-question-asking, smirking..."

"How am I unscrupulous?" Kenshin asked, raising one eyebrow and clearly trying to keep from laughing at Kaoru's tirade.

"Every way imaginable," she ground out through gritted teeth. Her fingers were clenched so tightly around the handle of her fork that her knuckles had gone white and Kenshin couldn't swear that they wouldn't leave marks.

"Very possible," he said smoothly, "but that doesn't answer my question. You're a very attractive, healthy young woman; you went to college and lived in the dorms and that apartment on-campus; it's a perfectly logical thing to ask."

"Your logic does _not_ resemble our Earth logic," she snapped, glaring at him with enough force to set the floral arrangement on fire. When he showed no sign of backing down or arguing, she finally bit out "You know what my social life was—or wasn't—in high school. When I went to college, I had other things to focus on, like teaching classes at the dojo and getting my degrees as quickly as possible so that I could be independent and help out with saving up for Yahiko's college education. There wasn't time to be in a serious relationship, even assuming I had met somebody I could stand for long enough for the issue to come up."

Before Kenshin could say anything, or Kaoru could figure out if she could reach him with her fork if she tried hard enough, there was a soft knock and the waiter came in to retrieve the plates. Kenshin said complimentary things about the meal, to which Kaoru nodded and gave a somewhat frozen smile. Remembering what he had done the last time the waiters were in their room, Kaoru proceeded to aim a solid kick at his ankle. Kenshin's eyes widened slightly at the impact, but he gave no other sign that anything had happened. When Kaoru went to pull her foot back, she found it trapped under one of his and couldn't move it no matter how hard she pulled. She raised her chin and shot him a glare, preparing to use her other leg, but stopped when she felt Kenshin's sock-clad foot tracing patterns on her ankle again. This time, he kept venturing up her calf, taking advantage of the way her leg was stretched out underneath the table.

Kaoru barely noticed when the waiters carried in dessert, staring at Kenshin as he calmly stared back, the amber sparks in his eyes the only indication that he knew that he had reached her knee and was continuing to move upwards. She had been sure her face couldn't get any redder than it had been, but apparently she had been wrong.

The minute the waiter had closed the door behind him, Kaoru snapped, "_Stop_ that this minute and let my foot up, or I'll make you wish that you had never gotten up off that Home Ec room floor!"

Grinning, he complied, unfazed by the stormclouds in her expression. Gesturing towards the plates in front of them, Kenshin explained, "I had them prepare a sampler of their different desserts, since they do such a good job with so many of them. If you'd like to try anything from my plate, just let me know, alright kitten?"

"That's terrific," Kaoru said tightly, "Now, how the hell do I kill you?"

The fact that his response was a full-throated laugh that made something warm slide down the nerves in her spine did not improve her temper. When he was finally able to look her in the eyes again, Kenshin answered, "I think you did very well last time, kitten, with the stabbing. It was both fast and effective. Don't try anything like stakes; that works for vampires, but otherwise the splinters are just annoying. Also," he said thoughtfully, "I wouldn't recommend bullets or fire, either alone or in combination. They're a lot less effective than you might think."

"I meant _permanently_, you jackass!" she snarled. "I know what I did last time, and if I'd done "very well," we wouldn't be _having_ this conversation, now would we? And stop trying to get out of answering by telling me what _doesn't_ work."

"Ah, well, that_ is_ a different issue," Kenshin agreed. "Hey, is that panna cotta?"

"Keep that fork on your side of the table," Kaoru warned. "And, yes. So how do I kill you _permanently_, since that's a different issue?"

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question?" Kenshin asked, raising one eyebrow at her as he dug into what looked like a mini crème brulee.

"No," Kaoru said sweetly, "You already asked if this was panna cotta. And I answered, because I was raised to be polite. Would decapitation work, or am I going to have to start looking around for a steam roller to throw you under?"

"Don't know," Kenshin answered with a shrug, "Haven't ever been decapitated. Although it would definitely be harder to come back from something like that than being stabbed, if that helps."

Kaoru muttered something under her breath and took several bites of what was admittedly an excellent panna cotta with raspberries. She really wished that Kenshin would stop giving her such outstanding food whenever she was working so hard to be furious at him. Exhaling, she looked up to see Kenshin's eyes on her. His expression was hard to decipher, but he seemed to be thinking about what he would say next.

"Are you enjoying being here with me?" Kenshin asked her, his eyes never leaving her face.

"I..." Kaoru blinked, startled. The question was not at all what she had expected, and she really wasn't sure what it meant that he had asked it. She wasn't even sure how to think about it, let alone what to say in response. "I... that's... um..."

'_Well, since we seem to be being honest with each other..._'

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru softly said, "That's a very hard question to answer. I'm not sure that I even know how to answer it. You are often _very_ aggravating, and the food is annoyingly good, because it would be much easier to hate this evening if the food was horrible. And don't get me started on that thing you were doing with your foot, because then I'd have to kick you some more, and I wouldn't aim for your ankle. But I am... it's good to get some answers, and finally get to figure things out, and I like that we're finally talking about things, except when you're asking embarrassing questions, which is definitely not good, although at least Misao and Megumi aren't here, although then they'd be able to think of embarrassing questions to ask _you_, which I wish I'd thought of asking them before so that I would have had them ready for tonight. And... um... I suppose... that is, overall, probably, yes. Um."

"Good," Kenshin said, softly, a glow in his eyes that made Kaoru's cheeks redden again as she reached for her wineglass to cover her awkwardness.

'_Great, my turn, and what on earth do I ask him to follow up that question? Ask him why he has this strange fondness for going after my neck in a not exactly traditionally demonic fashion? Or whether he ever really dated any of the cheerleaders who were always batting their eyelashes at him and... and... doing that slinking thing? Not that I care either way, because I definitely don't, but it would be something to ask... Why he sometimes has fangs and sometimes doesn't? What he's been doing for the past however long he's been working on his most recent project? Which is definitely a more important question than the other ones, and I can't believe it took me this long to think of it. I'll blame it on the fact that he's still staring. Like that."_

"What exactly is the "work" that you've been off doing since, um, right after that thing with Jineh?"

Kenshin's face turned serious and he said, "I can't tell you everything about it, Kaoru. It's complicated."

"Can you answer yes or no questions?"

"Yes."

"Is it connected with what happened with Jineh?"

"No."

"Is it anything to do with what attacked Yahiko?"

He hesitated before answering, "There's not a _direct_ connection, no."

"What about some kind of indirect connection?"

"That's something that I can't tell you about right now," Kenshin answered, his expression tinged with something almost apologetic.

Kaoru bit her lip. "But it's something to do with demons? With your job?"

"Yes. And yes."

"Is it something to do with humans making pacts with demons?"

"No... well, not that we've discovered yet."

"Is it bigger than a breadbox?" Kaoru asked, slightly frustrated.

"What?"

"Never mind." Thinking about what else she wanted to ask Kenshin about, Kaoru said, "Was whoever called you in the mall connected to those "orders" you and Jineh mentioned?"

"I can't really talk about that."

"But you do get orders, right? About your job?"

"Most jobs involve orders, kitten. Of one kind or another."

"Fine. Is it another high school thing?"

"No."

She gritted her teeth. _'Darn it... this is like pulling teeth! Or, um, fangs. Why can't he just give a straight explanation?'_

"Do you have _any_ idea how annoying you are?"

"Yes." Kenshin said, giving her another cheerful grin.

Stifling an urge to swat him with her spoon, Kaoru took a deep breath and thought about what she had managed to pry out of him so far. "OK... so... you said something that shouldn't be here attacked Yahiko. This job you're doing... is it about things that are here that shouldn't be?"

"Yes," Kenshin finally said after a significant pause. "And that's really all I can say about it, although I promise to tell you more once it's been taken care of." He dug his spoon into the other small ramekin on his dessert plate, something that looked deep and rich and chocolatey.

Kaoru opened her mouth to ask how Kenshin could be sure that she wouldn't end up involved before then, especially after what had happened with Yahiko, but before she could say anything, he had taken advantage of her opened mouth to spoon-feed her what was quite definitely the most amazing chocolate mousse she'd ever had in her entire life.

"Here; try this, it's one of their specialties," Kenshin said as he pulled the spoon back from where she had automatically closed her lips around it. Kaoru would have glared at him, and she had several cutting remarks prepared, but first she closed her eyes and savored the way the mousse managed to be both intensely flavored, dark chocolate with a hint of bourbon vanilla, and light at the same time. For several long seconds, she simply sat there and communed with the chocolate, and when she opened her eyes again after swallowing, her eyes widened at the way Kenshin's expression had turned intent and amber, his eyes following the motion as she swallowed again, her throat gone suddenly dry.

"Trying to choke me will not stop me from asking awkward questions," she finally managed, darting a glance down at her plate before she looked up at him again. "So, are you and Aoshi working together on this? Is it just the two of you?"

"Ah, ah, kitten; I get a question now," Kenshin said smoothly, the corners of his mouth turning up. "So..." he said, his eyes traveling over her face, "were you really attracted to me back in high school, or is it just a recent development?"

"I was _not_! I mean, no! I mean, don't believe everything Misao says; she drinks far too much coffee. Why on earth would you even care about something like that?"

"A man likes to know where he stands with a woman," Kenshin said easily, still looking at her with that same expression, "Why are you so twitchy about answering, kitten?"

"I'm not twitchy; don't call me kitten; and if I were to be twitchy about anything, it would be the way that you keep making high-handed, arrogant assumptions about every female in your immediate vicinity automatically swooning over you like idiot lovestruck teenagers, which most of them are in the first place. How old _are_ you anyway?"

"In human years or according to the way that we calculate things?"

Kaoru blinked. "Well, that answers more than I actually asked," she managed. If Kenshin had to adopt two different scales for calculating his own age... "Isn't that at least slightly, oh, I don't know, I mean, you're pretending to be a teenager, with the social life and the dating and the cheerleaders and ... and... do you really think that you should be if you're... older?"

Raising one eyebrow, Kenshin murmured, "I _do_ love watching you get jealous, kitten." Ignoring her sputtered protest, he grinned and said, "I told you before; I didn't date any of them. No matter how much they... how did you put it? Plastered themselves all over me in the library. I never pursued any of the girls I met in high school. You're the only one."

"Yes, because I'd taken your stupid sword," Kaoru snapped back, thoroughly annoyed.

There was a momentary pause, during which Kenshin opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, his expression completely flummoxed. Seeing an opportunity, Kaoru continued, "I still think it's disturbing, and probably illegal in several states, and don't think that just because you're a demon you can..."

Her tirade was cut short by the sudden sensation of being bodily hauled out of her chair, and she was still trying to catch her breath as she felt her back being pressed up against the wall of the booth and Kenshin's breath warm against the skin of her neck. Looking up, startled, Kaoru met amber eyes, alight with sparks. She opened her mouth to say something, though she had no idea what, but was interrupted by Kenshin's lips claiming hers, fierce and hungry. His arms went around her as her knees went weak, molding her body against his as one hand pulled her hips hard against him, leaving her in no doubt about the effect their contact was having on him. Kaoru whimpered in the back of her throat at the way his tongue tangled with hers, fire shooting along her nerves to pool at the base of her spine.

When he finally pulled away, they were both panting, and his voice was harsh as he breathed into her ear. "Make no mistake, Kaoru; I _am_ happy to have my sword back. It was made especially for me and it makes my work much easier. But if I ever, _ever_ hear you start to suggest that wanting to get my sword back was the reason I began pursuing you, then you're going to find yourself naked underneath me, screaming my name, until I'm convinced that you've gotten past that particular idea."

She looked up at him, eyes wide and dark in the candlelight, lips slightly parted as she breathed. He could see the exact moment when his words registered, because she went completely still, then stammered, "I... you... but you were... and you never... I mean, you always... "

He silenced her with a series of kisses along her jaw, his tongue flicking out against her skin, and murmured, "Keep going with that sentence, kitten, and you're going to discover how sturdy this table really is."

Kaoru squeaked out a word that might have been "Restaurant! Ken—" but then her eyes fluttered shut at the feel of his lips sliding across hers again, and it took a soft knock on the door to bring them both back to reality. By the time the door opened, Kenshin was back at the table, the burning gold of his eyes the only sign of what had just been interrupted. Kaoru took advantage of her position to bolt out the door in what she hoped was a composed and ladylike fashion, stopping only to ask the nearest waiter where the ladies' room was located.

'_Oh, my various deities...'_ Kaoru thought, staring at herself in the mirror; the way her cheeks were flushed and her lips definitely kiss-swollen, the slightly shell-shocked expression in her eyes. _'He... he just... and he said he would... but I was so sure that that was the reason... except for those bits where I wasn't. Does this mean that he was... I mean, that even the times before he got his sword back... I don't think I can deal with this right now... I think I've reached my limit on Things to Deal With for the night, and possibly the entire week, and what the hell just happened in there?'_

She was thankful that there seemed to be very few people in the restroom, and she could take a few minutes to simply breathe deeply. She would have closed her eyes, but she had a feeling that that would just bring back memories of how it had felt to have Kenshin wrapping himself around her and the way that sparks had shot through her everywhere they'd touched. So instead she stared at the soap dish, then tried counting the number of tiles that had little flowers painted on them. In the end, Kaoru wasn't entirely sure how long she had stayed there, nor was she certain she was entirely ready to head back to the room.

However, since she _was_ fairly certain that Kenshin would have no compunction about kicking down the door to the ladies' room if he felt she was taking too long, and since there was no good way that she could see of getting out through one of the windows, Kaoru eventually squared her shoulders, gave herself a resolute nod in the mirror, and headed back out.

Kenshin was sitting at the table, looking enviably unruffled, and Kaoru shot him a semi-glare. He smiled at her and said, "The waiter wanted to know if we wanted anything else: coffee, espresso, a nightcap... I told him I'd have to ask my lovely companion."

Holding her head up, Kaoru refused to rise to the bait, instead saying, "Thank you, but I really should be heading back home. And I never drink caffeine this late at night anyway. However, don't let me stop you if you're interested in anything." At his raised eyebrow and suddenly wicked expression, she hastily added, "To drink!"

"Alright, kitten, if you want me to take you home now, that's perfectly fine. Wouldn't want you to get exhausted from staying out too late."

As he gracefully stood up from the table, it was on the tip of Kaoru's tongue to tell him that she was perfectly capable of finding her way home by calling a taxi, before she remembered that he lived in the same building, on the same floor, and that spending the money on a taxi would thus make no sense and suggesting it would probably result in more remarks that she was sure she didn't want to deal with at the moment. She exhaled, peeved that her clever plan had been thwarted before she could even implement it, and followed him out to the foyer.

After having fetched their coats, Kenshin helped her into hers, his hands lingering briefly on her shoulders. She frowned slightly as he put his own on and then turned towards the door, and asked, "Um... Kenshin? Don't we have to pay for dinner?"

He gave her a brilliant smile and said, "This was me taking you out for dinner, kitten, and I already told you that I had made arrangements with the chef. It's all taken care of."

"Y-you... this... you just... were we just on a _date_?" Kaoru demanded, more than slightly shocked and aghast.

"Of course we were; what on earth did you think was going on?" Kenshin asked in an amused tone of voice.

Her voice was a hissed whisper as she darted glances at the maitre'd and the incoming diners. "We were most certainly _not_ on a date—we were having a long overdue discussion, with food!"

"And kissing." Kenshin reminded her cheerfully, slipping an arm around her shoulder. "I would hate to think that the kissing was so easily overlooked. Although I'm more than happy to remind you about it as soon as we get outside again."

"That was not _date_ kissing, that was... that was... the kissing of you being annoying and trying to prove a point and that doesn't count, because you keep using that as a tactic to try to..."

This time, he stopped right in the middle of the foyer and pulled her into his embrace and didn't let go until she made a faint moaning noise in the back of her throat. Karou blinked at him, then flushed bright red as she noticed the amused stares of the other patrons, and the faint grin on the face of the normally unflappable maitre'd. Kenshin took advantage of her shock to pull her towards the entrance, his arm around her shoulder and his body pressed against hers as he whispered in her ear, "It was very _definitely_ a date, Karou; get used to the idea. I have no problem with kissing you in foyers, or restaurant booths, or anywhere else that I have to to win this argument."

"You can't take somebody on a date without asking them first; it doesn't count!" Kaoru retorted as they exited the building.

"Kitten," Kenshin answered, clearly stifling a laugh, "if I'd asked you first, it wouldn't have been a surprise! Most women appreciate romantic surprises, you know."

Her eyes narrowed and she had started opening her mouth to utter a scathing reply, when another voice cut across their conversation as smoothly as a blade.

"Well, good evening... Mr. Himura..."

The young man who stood in the pool of light under the streetlamp was even more slightly-built than Kenshin, with pale skin as if he didn't normally see the sun. He had a broad, guileless grin on his face, and his tone was full of cheerful satisfaction. But neither reached his eyes, which reflected the light flatly, like a mirrored surface with nothing underneath.

"Oh, yay, "Kaoru muttered under her breath, "... a surprise."

* * *

Next Chapter: The perfect not-ending to the perfect not-date?

In this chapter I don't own: Yogi Bear (who is smarter than the average bear), the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode "The Wish," (in which Xander's logic does not resemble our earth logic), and various parts of "Inuyasha" (either Kagome's charm-bearing grandfather, or the VERY silly VIZ tendency to translate "Sankon Tessu" as "Demon, begone!" which to me always sounded like it should be some kind of spot remover. The anime translation of "Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" always sounded better). I also don't own Monopoly. Or the brilliant and hysterical webcomic "Sluggy Freelance," which this chapter has a secret shout-out to (It's a secret because I just want to see if anybody gets it. Hee.)

Author's Note: And on that note, I head hiatus-wards until mid-September:looks at anti-cliffhanger forces bearing torches and pitchforks: Eep! But look! They had a discussion! Finally! With food! And kissing! And... um... that bit at the end wasn't a cliffhanger, it was just a chance encounter with a cheerful... um... flower vendor! Really! Or a fisherman out for a midnight stroll through eel-infested streets. Err.

Special note: Kudos and demonic waffles to Omasuoniwabanshi and Indygodusk for being the first people to ask whether the high school students were Satan worshippers in their spare time or something, and Fantasy Angel Victoria for wondering if they were evil demons, way back in chapter 12! Also to Anne Novemberly, who generally wondered what the jocks and cheerleaders in Kaoru's school might have been up to.

Reviewer Responses: Well, like many folks, I have heard the rumors about ffnet banning reviewer responses; however, since the ffnet homepage doesn't say anything about it, and since the general opinion in the forums I've looked at seems to be that it's probably not a new rule but rather their pre-existing rule that you can't have a chapter with JUST reviewer responses, I am going to keep responding. :assumes heroic pose: Let's see... thanks to everybody who sent "Happy Hiatus!" wishes. And, to those of you eagerly anticipating breadstick-related violence; alas, not this time. I hope that everybody liked this chapter, and that it answered some long-standing questions. As for new questions that have now come up... :tries to look innocent:... I deny all responsibility! (really; ask my parents; I am not at all responsible).

And now, some individual responses:

Aldailyn: Eek! Possibly you should tell your brother to leave the room before you read this. Except that now you've already read it. Whoops.

AnyaRei: Thank you! The museum scene was both fun and tough to write. I found lots of random information that I then couldn't let myself use, for fear it would get really boring and include lots of "And then they looked at... and then they saw... "Good heavens," Yahiko said, "I do believe that that is..."-type stuff.

Blue Wallpaper: Misao had planned it in advance, and Kenshin made the reservations. That is, Misao called Kenshin and told him she was going to set him up with Kaoru, and that if he didn't like it, that was just tough. And Kenshin said, "Perfect. Have her at such-and-such a restaurant at such-and-such a time."

Cobaltsky: Hope that this chapter lived up to expectations! And, indeed, Sano is going to need much more beer to handle talking to Megumi. Good thing he owns a bar.

circle game: Well, definitely citrus in this chapter. At least a little bit.

en route: The picture is full of many possibilities!

Indygodusk: Thank you! Kaoru is not only trusting Kenshin more (as much as that might bother her), she was NOT going to tell her brother the whole truth. He's difficult enough to deal with without deciding fire is an acceptable problem-solving strategy. In terms of Kaoru interrogating Misao... if I had thought of it, I would have put in a bit about Kaoru planning to do it later, possibly in the context of their night out. Ah well.

Jade Lightning Wolf: For some reason, the start of your review made me picture him being whapped on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. Hee. And, yes, a Shakku shout-out. Although a slightly different one.

Kat Angelle: I hope that this was a less evil place to stop. Um. At least a little bit. And, yes, that would be a cool sword exhibition to actually go to.

KC Evans: I think this chapter has done a great deal to shake Kaoru out of some ideas she was rather stubbornly holding on to. And, yes, Yahiko and Kaoru do sometimes think alike. Glad you noticed!

Keanne: Thank you! Not sure what you mean by "the urchin," though.

lolo popoki: I have friends who threaten... I mean, support me. With pointy sticks and squirrels. And the occasional stealth ninja hamster squad.

Miharu Kawashi: Kenshin is definitely working on Kaoru's denial. Also... Cho having a sister is just a scary thought.

Misao-Mine: Yes, indeed, that would be a very interesting discussion. And knowing Misao, it would end up being HIGHLY embarassing for Kaoru.

omasuoniwabanshi: Ah, so many good questions. Good thing I've been practicing my Innocent Authoress expression:assumes expression: Glad that the sword stuff made sense; took me forever to find that nihontou reference.

royal bluekitsune: Yup, the Sano incident did indeed play a role.

Seliesz: Thank you for your reviews and comments! It always makes me happy to have folks who usually avoid high school or demon fics saying that this one is an exception. I've really had fun playing against some of the standard cliches.

sueb262: Thank you! Frankly, it helped that it's been very grey and rainy lately. Yahiko is indeed hard to stop once he gets going.

Triste1: Hope that the Kenshin-balance has now been restored! Also, whee! Rum! Yo ho ho:Hic:

Via x Infinito: Glad to brighten your day! Not sure if Kenshin's idea of explaining things is exactly what Kaoru would have wanted, but there it is.

Wandering Reader: I think Kaoru had so many questions at that point that she figured she could deal with whatever happened. Although if she'd known everything that would happen, she would probably have fled cabwards.


	30. Gentle Into That Good Night

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Thirty: Gentle Into That Good Night

* * *

Kaoru had only a second to register the details of the stranger's appearance when she found herself behind Kenshin again, his left arm holding her in place while his other hand suddenly brandished a sword that shone silver in the moonlight.

'_Hey... when did he... he's had that the whole time? Or... rats, I should have asked him where he keeps his sword; that would have been a useful question.'_

Once again, Kaoru found herself peeping over Kenshin's shoulder as he stood, still and tense and clearly furious, not reacting at all when she poked him in annoyance to get him to move his arm and let her get a better look. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were, but was willing to bet that they had once again returned to furious, burning amber.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Kenshin bit out, the syllables clipped and tense. The youth's smile only grew broader as he replied "Now, Mr. Himura, is that any way to talk to an old acquaintance? I think you know why I'm here. Consider it a friendly warning. Master Shishio would hate for you to think that your recent endeavors had gone unnoticed. But since it would be a shame to waste time in further efforts, he requested that I take a moment to talk to you... and your lovely dinner companion," he finished, his eyes flicking briefly to Kaoru.

Kenshin instantly moved as if to intercept his gaze, and his low growl rumbled through the hands that she had pressed up against his back. She refused to cower against him, staring at the scene in front of her, trying to mark everything that she could so that she could remember it later and ask questions.

With a mocking bow, and another, broader smile that still entirely failed to reach his eyes, the other man said, "Having delivered my message, I wish you a good evening, Mr. Himura. A very good evening to you both." He turned, and Kaoru noticed for the first time that he was carrying a sword at his waist as well, the sheath gleaming dull and black. Then he stepped out of the circle of light under the lamp, and between one breath and the next, he was simply gone.

For several long moments, Kenshin stood, every muscle tensed and ready, staring fixedly at the spot where their visitor had disappeared, hand clenched around the hilt of his sword. Kaoru considered whether to step forward and investigate the area around the lamp, but Kenshin's arm was still preventing her from moving very far. Besides which, she really didn't want to accidentally walk into some kind of interdimensional rift or wormhole or whatever had just been used. Even from where she was standing she could see that something about the shadows on the other side of the lamp was slightly off, a shade or two deeper than the darkness around them.

Her attention was diverted from the shadows by the faint sound of Kenshin letting out a long breath. Turning to her, he said, "Let's get you home, kitten. I... there seem to be some rather unsavory elements lurking tonight."

"And how do we know that the, um, unsavory elements aren't going to be following us?" Kaoru asked, raising one eyebrow. She could still remember the way that Jineh had carefully stalked before striking, and she had no intention of letting that happen again, to herself or any of the people in her life.

"He's gone. He was just here to deliver a message; they know perfectly well that there's no way he could skulk around without my knowing it. Even if he hadn't shown his face, I would have known he was in the area if he tried to follow us."

"If _who_ was trying to follow us?" Kaoru said, wishing that Kenshin would at least have given a name instead of just using pronouns. It was extremely vexing that he hadn't slipped up even once.

Without answering, Kenshin put his arm around her waist and continued to proceed to the parking lot. Kaoru was slightly bothered, although not really surprised, to see that his sword was no longer hanging at his side. Darting a glance upwards, she noted that his expression was dark and furious, golden eyes narrowed in concentration. In fact, she wasn't entirely certain how much of his attention was with her and how much was directed entirely elsewhere.

'_OK, I don't want to pester him, but there are clearly things going on that I need to know about... he might have been right at dinner that he couldn't talk about some things, but I really do think that the situation has just changed. '_

When they reached the car, Kenshin opened the door for her and then closed it once she was inside. By the time he'd gotten in and started the engine, Kaoru was ready to try ask questions again, figuring that the practical actions of having to deal with doors and driving might have snapped Kenshin out of his distracted state.

"Who exactly is Shishio?" Kaoru asked, latching on to the name their strange visitor had so-casually dropped. "I mean, am I correct in assuming that he's a demon?"

Kenshin made a non-commital noise that Kaoru would almost have classified as a grunt. Sighing, she tried again.

"Was the boy with the sword a demon?"

This time she definitely would have called the noise that he made a grunt. His eyes were fixed on the road in front of them, hands tense on the steering wheel. Kaoru supposed she should consider herself lucky that his driving was still as smooth and competent as ever, not hint of internal tension leaking out to make her nervous about the way they were moving through the darkened city.

"Do all demons carry swords? All real demons, I mean. Or is it just some of you?"

"No..." Kenshin answered absently. She rolled her eyes. She supposed it was her own fault for having asked two questions at the same time when Kenshin was already clearly not paying complete attention. Thinking about it, she decided that he had probably answered the first question rather than the second one.

'_Yay, actual information. I mean, I would have guessed that answer, that not all demons carry swords, because, well, swords aren't so much automatically associated with demons... but it's nice to get something confirmed.'_

"So, I take it that this Shishio guy, or demon, or whatever, and that boy... that's something to do with what you've been working on recently?"

"Mmmm..."

"And it's connected to whatever attacked Yahiko?"

This time, there was only silence as Kenshin shifted gears and navigated a turn.

Kaoru shot him an annoyed glance. She had a strong suspicion that Kenshin was deliberately avoiding saying anything about her brother, probably because he thought it would make her rush off and do something rash. Not that he was wrong about that, necessarily, but she really wished he would at least give her the information and then let her make her own decisions about what constituted rash behavior. Deciding that a change of topic might help the conversation, Kaoru commented, "Wow, not a lot of traffic tonight, is there..."

"Hmmm..."

"How many boards would the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored?"

This time, Kenshin actually blinked as he said, "What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

Kaoru sighed, pursing her lips and exhaling as she stared out the window. It was no fun trying to verbally fence with somebody who had apparently already put their weapons away for the evening.

'_Guess the restaurant used up my quota of answers for the evening... I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not getting any more information tonight, because it just might make my poor overloaded brain blow up. Kenshin's a demon who exterminates other demons who are preying on people, and humans who have made contracts with demons... which kind of sort of makes him—Ye Gods!—a good guy. Or at least on the side of law and order and, um, demonic chaos being prevented. That's a lot to think about right there, actually, without mysterious missives in the moonlight... lurkers in the lamplight... Late night visits by short smiley guys who clearly have met Kenshin before, darn it.'_

For the rest of the drive, Kaoru stared moodily out the window and counted the streetlights. Kenshin kept his eyes on the road with a set expression that didn't leave his face until they were pulling into the parking lot of their complex.

He went around to open her door for her, but she had already opened it up and was getting out by the time he got there. The fact that Kenshin had once again put on a cheerful expression only made Kaoru's eyes narrowed further.

'_He was upset! And I know this on account of the also being there at the time! Which he knows, because, well, he was standing right next to me! So after that, and an entire drive chock full of non-responsiveness, he thinks that I'm going to fall for a cheerful grin and "What random demonic boy?" expression? Oh, I don't think so! If this is going to be any kind of a relationship, then we have to be equal in it and share, and I did not just think that. I did not. I am perfectly happy to have him clam up because it clearly means we are not involved which is a good thing because I don't want to be involved with him even if he is technically a good guy, sort of...'_

Kaoru was very glad that the walk to the building was so short. Glaring at the cracks in the pavement wasn't really any fun, but she was fairly certain that seeing Kenshin determinedly looking cheerful and still not responding to her previous questions would lead her to smack him. Besides which, she really wasn't sure that _she_ was feeling up for conversation at the moment. During dinner, she'd been able to focus on asking questions and trying not to sputter too much or spill anything when Kenshin was asking her things. The silent drive home had given her a chance to think about the evening, and Kenshin's answers, and what they meant on a larger scale, and she was starting to feel a real need to run away and spend some time alone to work through it all. She was just glad that Kenshin didn't try to say anything beyond a few brief comments on the weather and an inquiry after Misao's health.

Once he had courteously opened the door for her, she turned to face him, plastered a cheerful grin on her face, and said, "Thank you, Kenshin, for an _interesting_ evening, it was terribly informative. Please do tell Megumi and Misao that if they ever try to do something like that again, I'll gut them with a salad fork and then throw them into the river, ok? I'm going to check my mail, so have a good night, and I'll see you... well, whenever! Night!"

With that, she shook his hand briefly, pulling away before he had time to do more than look faintly startled, and ducked through the doors into the mailroom. Then, just to add veracity to her statement, Kaoru unlocked her mailbox and looked inside. True, she had last checked that afternoon, and thus wasn't expecting to find anything, but she'd said she was going to check her mail, and that's what she was doing.

Although normally she didn't stand there and count to a hundred before closing her mailbox again and heading out towards the stairs.

'_Look left; look right... no demon, that's good. Ok, upwards! Gah, I hate wearing heels while going up stairs... or down stairs... or along flat surfaces...or at all, stupid insidious demands of fashion and my friends...'_

Kaoru was casually trying to plan out her schedule for the next day, thinking ahead to the rest of her week, and mentally congratulating herself on having survived various and sundry aspects of her evening as she reached her door.

"You know, kitten," a low, lazy drawl came from the other side of the hallway, "shaking hands is hardly the proper way to end a first date."

Spinning, Kaoru barely had time to squeak before she found herself pressed up against her doorframe, the hands she had raised up pressing against Kenshin's chest as his arms wrapped around her.

Kenshin made a satisfied noise against the skin of her throat and ran his tongue over her pulse point before he murmured, "Thank you, Kaoru..," following each word with a kiss against her neck, moving upwards, "for a very..." Kenshin nibbled on her earlobe and breathed the next words into her ear in a way that made a faint gasp escape from her throat. "_Very_ lovely evening." His hands were roaming up and down her back, leaving trails of warmth along her nerves.

Leaning back slightly, he looked into her eyes with a satisfied amber expression and raised one hand to twirl one strand of dark hair that had come loose at some point around his finger as he continued, "I really enjoyed the opportunity to get some things between us straightened out. I'm sure that you agree that it's better..." he kissed her forehead and temple and then went back to her other ear and finished, "... to know where things stand..." before he took her earlobe in his teeth again and tugged lightly, the points of his fangs pressing lightly and causing her knees to feel suddenly weak.

Kaoru opened her mouth to say something; she wasn't sure what, but she felt certain it had something to do with things definitely _not_ being straightened out between them, and that where he seemed to think things stood was definitely not where they were actually standing.

Before she could actually say anything, Kenshin's lips were on hers, moving almost lazily as he explored her mouth, sending slow warmth spreading through her veins like melted honey, sweet and addictive. Kaoru made a pleading moan in the back of her throat and pressed herself up against him, feeling his heartbeat echoing through her chest. The feel of her hands running up his chest, across his shoulders, through his hair, her nails scratching slightly as she pulled his head down to deepen their contact, caused Kenshin to make a low noise in turn, and suddenly their kiss was sending electricity down her spine.

His hands moved downwards to cup her bottom, and Kaoru gasped against his mouth as he hoisted her up so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. Then he leaned forward against her in a way that made her legs instinctively tighten as she whimpered. The heat that was shooting through her, pooling where she could feel him pressed against her, made her dizzy and breathless, and she gasped for air when Kenshin left her lips to begin nibbling on her throat.

"Oh, yes..." Kenshin breathed as he found a particular spot that made Kaoru arch her back instinctively and then cry out as the motion caused her to move against him. Keeping one arm around her to hold her in place, he ran his other hand up her leg, underneath where the skirt had ridden up, and didn't stop until he could brace his hand and forearm around her again, his fingers brushing against the lace waistband of her underwear. She shuddered and wrapped herself around him even more tightly as he moved his other arm to that his hand could reach up underneath the hem, where her shirt had come untucked.

All Kaoru could feel were the sensations of Kenshin's mouth and teeth against her collarbone, the scent of ginger and the outdoors overwhelming her, the way that the calluses on his palm and fingers were slightly rough trailing up the smooth skin of her back. She faintly registered the fact that her bra had been unclasped, but it took the further explorations of his clever fingers to truly make her aware of it and what it meant. He captured her gasping moan with his own open mouth, and proceeded to wreak further havoc on her senses, so that all she could do was cling to him, completely lost.

Kenshin was reveling in the feel of her skin under his hands, the way that she pressed up against him burning through his veins. He was drunk on her, and he knew it; knew that once again her response to him was making it impossible for him to remember the reasons he'd given himself for taking things one step at a time. Several steps seemed to be happening at once, in fact, and the small voice of reason in the recesses of his brain that pointed out that he had more important things, practical things, to worry about, especially after their encounter with Soujiro, was being drowned out by the rush of his blood, the feel of her heartbeat racing against him, and the half-coherent sounds she was making against his mouth in response to the caressing motion of his hands.

He felt a faint prickling awareness a second before he heard the noise. Even though he knew what it was, even though he knew it was useless, he did his best to ignore it and hope that it would go away. And for a brief second of silence, he thought that, impossibly, it had.

Then both of them, in spite of their being very much otherwise occupied, jumped at the sound of every phone in the building rang simultaneously three times, echoed by the loud, insistent noise from Kenshin's pocket of the cell phone which Kaoru was _sure_ had not been there a moment before.

There was a long moment when the only sounds were Kenshin's unsteady breathing against Kaoru's neck as he pulled back and rested against her and the continued ringing of the cell phone. Kaoru found herself unable to focus on anything else but the sensation of his breath warm against her and the sound of the phone, barely registering the low stream of curses Kenshin uttered as he managed to pull his arm down to get the phone and answer it with a snarled, "What?"

Kaoru could catch the tone of the man—it was definitely a man; she could tell that much—on the other end of the phone, but not the words. She was focusing on trying to understand the words as a way of reconnecting her brain with reality. Well, some parts of reality. There were other parts that, while she was well aware of them, she really didn't want to think about them.

Kenshin's tone continued to be tight, his words clipped, as he said, "Yes... yes, he did. Advance warning would have been... What?" The last word was said in a slightly strangled voice, and Kaoru leaned back slightly to see a definite blush spread upwards from Kenshin's neck to his face. A second later, Kaoru barely managed not to squeak (whoever the stranger on the other side of the phone was, she was quite positive that she did _not_ want to squeak in front of him) as Kenshin moved his other arm so that he was putting her back down on the ground, carefully. She managed to get her legs unwrapped from around his waist just in time, and concentrated on landing safely on the floor, relocating the shoe that apparently had come off at some point, rather than letting herself think about the way he had managed to put her down so easily, the way that his muscles had felt as they shifted.

She tried to calm her breathing as Kenshin kept talking, "Do you have any idea how he found... I _was_ discrete! There was no way that he should have been able…"

It was taking real effort for him not to crush the phone in his hand. The fact that he knew that the situation he found himself in was his own fault, born of his inability to simply let Kaoru flee into her apartment, his need to feel her melt against him when he kissed her, and the uncontrollable fire that she sent through him every time they touched, did not make him feel at all calmer. Instead, he kept being torn between frustration at the interruption and thinking about the various surprises that could have been far worse than an inconvenient phone call.

When his Master made a particularly blistering comment about Kenshin's idea of  
"discretion" and his observational skills, Kenshin sighed and quietly said, "You're right, I should have… what? Yes, of _course_ it's really me! Oh, never mind; I assume that there's a reason why you're calling? Other than merely to annoy me?"

Kaoru stood, quietly listening, watching Kenshin's expression for a hint of what the conversation was about. He hadn't made a move to step further away from her, but he was clearly tensed and focused on what was being said. It was, she noted, a complete contrast to the amorous mood he had just been in… which was, of course, completely different from the cheerful demeanor he'd tried to adopt.

'_And we're back to uncommunicative and focused, the way that he was in the car…'_ she thought, trying to fit all the pieces together in order to understand both Kenshin and what was going on.

Then he suddenly stiffened, the hand that wasn't holding the phone clenching into a fist, as he said, "_What!_ Are you… damn. _Damn_." Something about his posture seemed like he was barely managing not to punch the door, and his knuckles were white from the pressure. In a carefully controlled voice, Kenshin said, "I'll assume that you already have people looking into how this could have been possible in the first place. And that what you want from me is to go to the scene and see what I can find. Is there anything else; any leads or other information? Damn. I'll be there as fast as I can; tell the others not to wait."

With that, Kenshin hung up. He didn't really care that it might seem petty not to have waited for confirmation from the man on the other end of the line. Time was short, and there were things he needed to say to Kaoru before he left.

"It would sound silly to _ask_ you if something's wrong," she said softly. "because it obviously is. Just tell me if there's anything I need to worry about in particular, or watch out for, or, um, prepare for."

Sighing, Kenshin traced one finger along her cheek and remarked, "Ah, kitten, this wasn't at all how I planned to end the evening. Although," he continued, giving her a mischievously wicked grin, "I suppose the interruption is for the best. It would hardly be polite to drag you off to bed and repeatedly ravish you senseless before you've had a chance to think about our conversation."

In spite of her blush, Kaoru managed to glare at him. "Stop trying to distract me with sex! I mean, by talking about it. Or doing it. I mean, darn it, Kenshin, be serious!"

"I am serious," he said, unperturbed by her expression.

"I _meant_ be serious about what's going on, and where you're going, and… and… if whatever just happened wasn't connected to that boy with the smile and that Shishio he was talking about, I'll… I'll let Misao and Megumi pick out all of my clothes for work and not-work _and_ dragging me out to places with loud music and flashing lights and giant neon-colored drinks for the next year!"

The last part of Kaoru's declaration was punctuated by her poking Kenshin in the chest several times.

Acquiescing, he finally answered, "Yes, it had something to do with Shishio. I'm not sure if it had something to do with Soujiro, but if I had to guess, his delivering a message to me was at least partially intended to keep me focused on him rather than anything else. If I was keeping track of where he was, to make sure he wasn't following us, then they would have a better chance of their activities going unnoticed elsewhere. On the other hand, they might not have cared about that, and sending Soujiro to deliver a warning might just have been Shishio blatantly flaunting his ability to do things like that."

Kaoru still had many, many questions that hadn't been answered, but she decided not to press Kenshin about them. He clearly had places to go and things to do… possibly demons to kill.

"Well, um, good night, Kenshin," she finally said, feeling more than a little awkward. She really didn't know what else to say to him; wishing him good luck or giving him a thumbs up sign seemed inane.

"Thank you, kitten. I look forward to future occasions that don't get so rudely interrupted." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the mouth before she could react, but didn't seek to turn it into an extended embrace.

As he turned to go, leaving Kaoru still standing in the doorframe, Kenshin said, "By the way, remember your hair ribbon? The indigo one?"

Puzzled, Kaoru replied, "Umm… the one that you sent back?" She tried to remember exactly what drawer she'd stuffed it into after she'd pulled it off the bouquet of roses. She was pretty sure that she hadn't tried to feed it down the garbage disposal.

"Yes, that one. You don't have to start wearing it again, but it wouldn't hurt to, say, put it into your bag."

"Put it… Kenshin Himura, is this another sneaky demonic magic thing? Using _my_ hair ribbon?"

What she could see of his expression was possibly the slightest bit abashed, but it was hard to say exactly. "It's not really 'sneaky,' " he answered, "It's just a basic charm to keep track… to make sure that nothing suspicious or dangerous is lurking around."

"I would like to point out that you're the one who wasn't concerned about tonight's unsavory elements following us," she muttered. "Does this mean you've changed your mind about that?"

"No, not really. It's just…" The incident with Jineh hung, unspoken, between them. Finally Kenshin said, "I couldn't live with myself if something… if _anything_ happened that could have been prevented by taking simple precautions. Please, Kaoru."

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes and wondering when her life had reached the point when she could so calmly accept that even her favorite indigo ribbon had gotten tangled up with magic and demons. "I'll just put _that_ question on your tab along with everything else."

"Thank you, kitten," Kenshin said, sounding relieved that she had agreed.

With that, he walked off down the hallway, his pace seeming calm in spite of its speed. Kaoru watched him go, her thoughts torn between contemplating the evening's revelations and a sudden realization that she was actually feeling fairly tired. She wasn't sure if her tiredness was physical, the result of running all over the museum with her brother and Yutaro after a full day of school, plus at least one instance of chasing Misao around her house with a couch pillow, or if it was mental, the result of her brain being overloaded with new information that had broken and re-assembled previous certainties.

Either way, as she turned to unlock her door and go home, Kaoru knew that she wasn't going to be up for more than making herself a cup of tea and then going to bed. In the morning, there would be time to think things through, and make lists, or whatever else she decided was necessary.

In the morning.

* * *

Next Chapter: Kenshin puts on his best detective-type hat, in spite of the fact that it matches neither his tuxedo nor the scenery. Aoshi argues that his trench coat is detectivey enough that he doesn't need any other wardrobe additions. Saitoh lights himself a cigarette and prepares to enjoy the show.

Author's Notes: Whee! I'm back! Unhiatused and everything. And, frankly, pretty darned tired. So, this is a shorter chapter, and should be shortly followed by another chapter of about the same size. It was either post them separately and a bit later in the week or post the first half now in spite of its being, well, short. So I decided it was better not to make folks wait.

In this chapter I don't own: Hmm… I don't seem to have quoted too much. Guess Soujiro isn't one to break out into spontaneous poetic utterances or things like that. Although having him deliver his message in Shakespearean play style, with quotes and arcane references and so on, would almost have been worth it.

Reviewer Responses: Since I am way too tired to answer coherently (Really. It's a wonder I'm not just sitting here typing "Bbbbbbbbbbbtttpht……"), I will do these either later on and modify this chapter, or I will tack them onto the next chapter. In the meantime, thank you to everybody who reviewed! I am so glad that the discussion scene worked well, and that people enjoyed it. It was a tremendous amount of fun to write!


	31. Smoke and Shards

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes:AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Thirty-One: Smoke and Shards

* * *

Shards of glass glittered on the floor underneath the broken skylight. Aoshi's careful pacing didn't disturb a single fragment, and the movement of his trenchcoat didn't make a sound.

The only noise in the room was a careful exhalation from Saitoh as he sent another plume of smoke drifting through a shaft of moonlight.

"Were the guards injured?" he asked thoughtfully.

"No," Aoshi answered, "they don't seem to have noticed that anything was wrong at the time, so they never entered the room."

"And now?" Saitoh inquired, raising one eyebrow.

"Now they're unconscious. And it's unlikely they noticed anything about _that_ before it happened, either."

"Ah." Having no further interest in the guards, Saitoh turned his attention to the amount of glass on the floor. He frowned at it, then looked back up towards the skylight speculatively.

"Breaking the skylight..." he mused. "Well, I suppose that's one way to get the police to concentrate on human perpetrators. Although why they waited until after the burglary and broke it from the inside... "

"I suppose that they wanted to make sure first that the guards were sufficiently incompetent not to notice a noise like that." Aoshi replied. "It would be a fairly easy thing to do on their way out, once they knew that they could take the time."

"You're assuming there was more than one of them?" Saitoh asked, absently, his attention focused on the broken case which had once held a sword.

A very particular sword.

Saitoh's attention was caught by Aoshi holding out one hand. There, in stark contrast to the dark blue of his fingerless gloves, were several stands of long, blond hair.

"Ah..." Saitoh said, "Yes, I agree; there's no way that _he_ would be allowed on a mission like this by himself. Or, at any rate, no way that he would have the self control needed to leave the rest of the swords behind."

"Exactly," Aoshi said, a hint of dry humor evident in his tone. "And it would hardly have been a quiet theft."

"So which of the others do you think was holding his leash?"

"I'm not sure yet," the other man replied. "Henya can be eliminated, of course..."

Saitoh snorted derisively. "I doubt that Henya will be allowed to breathe without supervision after that stunt he pulled. And several of the others are too stupid to be capable of watching over _themselves_ adequately. That narrows down the options considerably. If it weren't for the fact that playing babysitter would be so far beneath him, I would almost wonder if..."

"Soujiro was waiting outside of the restaurant," Kenshin's voice cut across the darkness of the room like a blade. "He knew where we were, and when we were going to leave." His tone and the expression on his face indicated that when he found out who had informed the enemy of the details, what remained of their life would be nasty, brutish, and short.

Saitoh, whose own expression indicated that he was putting real effort into not thinking of his student teacher and Battousai anywhere _near_ each other, said, "It is not impossible for the Tenken to have traveled from the museum to the restaurant."

"But you don't think that happened..." Kenshin inquired, cocking an eyebrow at the taller man.

"I think that it is unlikely, yes. I find it difficult to imagine that Soujiro was selected as a babysitter. It would be a waste of his considerable skills. He was more likely assigned to..."

"... track me." Kenshin finished, his face dark and furious.

"I doubt that Soujiro's skill was necessary for _that_," Saitoh replied, ignoring the other man's expression. "considering that an idiot like Jineh was able to find you so easily."

"Might I remind you, Himura, that these weapons are part of a museum exhibit, and not for actual use?" Aoshi's cool tones cut smoothly through the tension building in the room. The two other men continued to glare at each other, but it was clear that they had heard him. Walking around to the cases along the wall, Aoshi said, "Only one sword was stolen; one out of this entire exhibition. According to the catalog of the museum, it wasn't even the most valuable; rare, to be sure, but there were other, better choices for thieves. Things more easily fenced in the mundane world"

"They aren't even trying for concealment," Kenshin mused, his eyes flicking to the place where they sword had rested. "If they had wanted to throw us off, they would have ransacked the rest of the exhibition; possibly the entire museum." He scowled. "This was a message to _us_, not to the petty guards or the museum trustees."

Saitoh nodded curtly. "He wouldn't make a move like this unless he was ready to come out into the open. To make a statement out of it." Shaking his head, he said scornfully, "If they were going to make it so obvious that even the humans couldn't miss it, I fail to see what purpose breaking the window served."

"Nobody ever said that Chou was particularly bright." Kenshin commented, his tone dry. "As I recall, wasn't he working for you for a time?"

If Aoshi had made a noise, it would have been a resigned sigh. "Hannya," he said, turning to face a shadowed corner, "do you have anything to report?"

There was a faint stirring of air as the masked figure materialized, white mask shining in the surrounding darkness. "There were no disturbances in the rest of the building, Captain. None of the doors were damaged; I believe that the intruders entered through the loading dock. It would not have been difficult. The standards of security in this facility are rather reprehensible, all things considered."

The mask hid any chance of seeing an expression, but Hannya's sepulchral tone was offended, as if the lack of security precautions were a direct affront.

"Weren't there extra cameras and sensors around the sword exhibition?" Saitoh asked, frowning. "I can't believe that the other museums lending their pieces would have agreed to this exhibition without that. No matter how much influence Tsukayama has; they would not have allowed their treasures to be taken to this country without appropriate precautions."

"I have checked the security tapes. The cameras did not record any of the theft," Hannya answered. "As for extra sensors... they were installed prior to the arrival of the pieces for this exhibition, at the special insistence of Mr. Tsukayama. However, from what I found in the office, it appears that they were deactivated for the opening reception this evening, also at the request of Mr. Tsukayama, who scheduled the reception and made all the arrangements. To all appearances, they were never turned back on."

Aoshi, well accustomed to his second-in-command's way of phrasing things, said, "So you think that they _were_ in fact turned on at the time and deactivated later as part of the theft? Or that one of the guards was bribed _not_ to activate them afterwards?"

"I thought we had concluded that the guards were merely stupid..." Saitoh murmured, taking another drag on his cigarette as he turned to prowl restlessly next to the other cases, raising an eyebrow and snorting at one of the historical descriptions.

"I agree," Aoshi said. "Hannya, how difficult would it have been to deactivate the newer system? Would technical skill have been required? Pass codes?"

"This is beside the point," Kenshin said, his tone sharp. "What does it matter how it was done? The mundane protections were deactivated so that the theft could be carried out. The Mugenjin is in the world again, and that is the reality we must face."

Aoshi raised an eyebrow, eloquently, but said nothing further about the security measures.

"Is it possible that this Tsukayama was part of the plan?" Saitoh asked bluntly.

"He's human," the ninja said.

"And? That sword has been well-guarded in its own country for over a century; why would it be selected as part of an exhibition now, sent someplace where the protections placed around it wouldn't exist?"

"The exhibition could have been planned before the theft was," Aoshi pointed out. "This could be a case of taking advantage of a pre-existing situation."

Kenshin shook his head. "No. There's no way that it would have been left to chance like that. This was carefully choreographed, all of it."

"Should we investigate the human as well?" Aoshi asked, raising one eyebrow.

"No," Kenshin said, after a moment's thought. "I've read about him in the newspapers. He has a mind full of business and bushido... there's no room for demons, or the supernatural. It isn't in his nature."

"And you feel that we can eliminate him as a potential conspirator based on... newspaper accounts?" Aoshi's tone was carefully neutral. "What if he thought it was some more mundane scheme? Insurance, or some personal favor being called in?"

"No," Saitoh replied before Kenshin could answer. "His son is one of my less hopeless students; judging from the boy's behavior and the extent to which he looks up to his father, the man is almost ridiculously honest in his dealings. His obsession with what he thinks of as samurai culture would preclude him from doing anything dishonest when it came to arranging an exhibition of swords in particular."

"Which leads us back to the temple," Aoshi mused.

"For the Abbot to give up that sword, even temporarily something must be wrong" Kenshin declared. "He knows what's at stake. And he never got in touch with me to say that anything had changed, that the sword had left the premises."

"If it had been stolen," the tall ninja reminded him, "then the alarms would have been unmissable. Even from across the ocean."

"Which means that it was given, and freely..." Saitoh mused. His scowl clearly showed how little he liked puzzles. Pacing back towards the shattered case, he inspected it as if he could find the answer to their questions inside of it, raising his cigarette to his mouth again. Watching him, Kenshin thought that if the other demon started blowing smoke rings, he was going to throw him through the claymore display.

"The logical conclusion," Saitoh finally said, "is that the Abbot is..."

"No!" Kenshin interrupted, his voice sharp. "He would not have done that. The Abbot is a good and honest man who understands the weight of his responsibilities."

After a long moment where the two of them stared at each other, Saitoh finally looked away, shrugging. "Well, I suppose you would know best, Battousai. Considering your personal experience with the temple."

Kenshin's hand twitched almost imperceptibly towards his sword hilt, but his voice was calm as he said, "Indeed."

Watching them, Aoshi tried very hard not to think about the fact that he'd had to leave Misao behind in his apartment, or the fact that he probably would not be returning much before the dawn.

"Hannya. Are there any other ghosts present who might be able to provide us with information?"

"No, Captain. There are some connected to various artifacts—the usual curses and deathwishes and so on—but none who were aware of this particular intrusion."

Saitoh's expression showed his surprise. "Including in the sword exhibition itself? All of these blades, all of this history; surely there must have been something... I could have sworn..." His voice trailed off as he looked around the room with narrowed eyes.

The stillness of the room was broken by loud, cheerful, music.

Instantly, four blades flashed out, the men's stances becoming tensely alert. After several measured seconds in which nobody moved, Aoshi blinked, re-sheathed one of his kodachi, and reached into his trenchcoat pocket. It was impossible to tell in the dim light, but Kenshin could have sworn the lanky ninja was... blushing?

Aoshi pulled a small, silver object from his trenchcoat and opened it with a single smooth motion, causing the noise to come to a sudden jarring stop mid-note. Turning slightly away from the other two, he spoke in a low tone.

"Misao, I thought I... yes, I'm still at work... no, it won't take too much longer. What? Um... well... yes. Yes, I think so. That would be... um... Yes, I'll see you soon."

Putting the cellphone back into his coat pocket, Aoshi pivoted and faced his companions. Both had re-sheathed their blades. Saitoh was standing with his arms crossed as he lifted his cigarette and inhaled, the gesture somehow conveying more than mere words ever could have. Kenshin raised one eyebrow as Aoshi walked past him back towards the case.

"The Macarena?" he asked.

"... reprogrammed my phone," Aoshi muttered through his teeth, keeping his eyes on the swords along the wall.

After several moments of silence, he spoke again. To his credit, he managed to keep any hint of what had just happened out of his voice, settling instead for a tone of brusquely getting back to business. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite conceal his awareness that the incident would not only be remembered until the end of time, but would be lying in wait, ready to be brought up again, quite possibly under circumstances which would be even more embarrassing than the original event.

"If there are no witnesses, dead or otherwise, then we need to concentrate on the scene."

"What do you propose, Shinomori? Dusting for Chi?" When his sarcasm met with identical glares of ice and amber, Saitoh held up a hand in what was, for him, a mollifying gesture. "We know Chou was here. We know the Tenken probably wasn't present, because he was off chasing Battousai."

"Are you suggesting," Kenshin asked tightly, "that Soujiro followed me to the restaurant and I failed to notice him?"

"Of course not," Saitoh replied "But it must be obvious, even to you, that Soujiro knew where you were in advance. It's not like he was simply out for his evening constitutional and _happened_ to walk by the restaurant. And if he wasn't tracking you in some way, then what..." He frowned, sharp eyes narrowing at some thought.

"What?" Kenshin asked.

It took perhaps two heartbeats for Aoshi's expression to assume the same sharp, thoughtful cast. "It is possible that you weren't the one he was following to the restaurant, Himura."

Frowning, Kenshin said, "What are you... No. No. He can't have been tracking Kaoru; he didn't even know who she was."

"He might not have seen her before, but that doesn't mean he didn't know _about_ her." Tapping his lips thoughtfully, Aoshi continued, "Jineh's death was... hardly subtle, Battousai."

"What the hell makes you think I was trying to be subtle?" Kenshin growled, fangs showing.

"I understand that," Aoshi said calmly, "but look at what we've learned: this theft represents a careful piece of a larger plan, one which has obviously been years—decades—in the making. And part of that plan would obviously involve investigating you—investigating all of us—for anything that could be used, with surprising thoroughness."

"I really don't like surprises," Kenshin said, his tone low and dangerous.

"You're surprised?" Saitoh asked, his eyebrows rising up almost to his hairline. "You are actually _surprised_ by... how naive can..." Shaking his head, he said, "It could have been predicted how he would react to being sent to Hell! _This_ is the reason why I argued... Why do you think the Mugenjin was placed at that shrine?"

"Enough, Saitoh. There were other forces the sword was being protected from; you know that. As for the other issue you raise... it was difficult enough to predict how things would conclude at the time, let alone looking ahead to cover all future possibilities. Our task now is to deal with present circumstances, not engage in useless speculation about the past."

Saitoh paused, then nodded, and both of the others knew it was the closest to an apology they would ever receive.

"Aoshi, Hannya: how quickly can you create a replacement for the sword? Something that can hold up to human inspection, at least until the end of the exhibition. A police investigation would only get in our way; I want the field clear." Kenshin's tone was brisk and businesslike.

"It can be in place by dawn," Aoshi answered. "Hannya, go and fetch the necessary materials. I'll remove any traces of the theft here."

With a nod and a bow, the masked figure stepped back into the shadows and vanished from sight.

"That takes care of things here, but it leaves us with an important question unanswered," Saitoh remarked. "We still don't know why the sword was in this country."

"I agree," Kenshin said. "There is something not right here. It must be investigated."

"And you are certain that the answers can be found at the temple?"

"I believe that we can find some of the answers there, yes."

"I agree. How soon will you be leaving?"

Kenshin opened his mouth to say something, then blinked. "How soon will I be _what?_"

Saitoh gave a grin full of sharp-toothed smugness. "Obviously, Battousai, since you are the one who has knowledge of the location, not to mention the one who so adamantly defends the Abbot, _you_ must be the one to visit the temple and perform the investigation."

A muscle in Kenshin's jaw clenched. "You're asking me... to return to Kyoto." His tone was perfectly, utterly neutral.

After a moment, Aoshi said, "Saitoh makes a good point. Neither of us have your familiarity with the temple complex or its people; we might miss something important."

"You tell me that Kaoru is in danger, that she has been being watched, and then you expect that I will drop everything and leave town?"

"She is watched at work and warded at home," Aoshi pointed out brusquely. "You arranged for the protections yourself." '_Don't you trust us to do our jobs?'_ hung, unspoken, in the air. "What you do in Kyoto will serve to guarantee her safety far more than hovering here and starting at every shadow."

"You know perfectly well it isn't about the girl," Saitoh added. "Her death while you were away would hardly count as a sufficiently dramatic gesture. It would be... wasteful to kill her unless you were there to watch."

Saitoh's cool assessment rankled, but Kenshin had to admit that there was truth in what he said. Kaoru was likely to be in more danger from his presence than his absence; he had known that even before the incident with Jineh had driven the point home. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Aoshi and Saitoh were both extremely skilled. They would look after Kaoru, not only for his sake, or even for her sake, but because both of them had their own loved ones to protect. They would act as he would have acted if either of them had been sent on a mission out of town.

"Alright," he finally said. "I will go to... to the temple. And I will learn what I can, and return to report as soon as I am able. In the meantime, try to track the path of the Mugenjin. And keep an eye out for any other unusual occurrences. Whatever might have been planned is clearly being put in motion."

With that, Kenshin turned and walked into the shadows, not looking back. The last that they could see of him was a flicker of flame-bright hair against the darkness.

"Indeed." Aoshi murmured. "Things are starting to move. We must be cautious."

"I am always cautious," Saitoh replied acerbically, lighting up another cigarette.

And the two men walked off on their own paths through the shadows, leaving nothing behind them but a single curl of smoke rising up through a shaft of moonlight.

* * *

Somewhere across town, in a small apartment decorated in a style best described as "Contemporary American Bachelor," Sano tried to decide if putting the dishes in the cabinet underneath counted as cleaning out the sink. It wasn't that he wouldn't do the dishes later, he reasoned; it was just that he had more important things on his mind tonight.

He had stashed the dishes and was trying to decide if he had time to take a few of the scarier take-out containers and toss them into the trash when he heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

Walking out into the living room, he looked at the woman standing there and grinned. "Hellloooooo, foxy lady! What's a nice girl like you doing on this side of the tracks?"

Megumi gave him a flat stare. "Trying to refrain from hitting you for using such stupid pick-up lines."

Coming over to hug her, Sano rubbed her back comfortingly. "Long day at the hospital?"

"Mmmm..." she agreed. "Well... I had a nice dinner with Misao, but otherwise..."

Sano frowned. "Oh. I thought you had a late shift."

"Yes, dear, these are my _hospital_ spike heels. And the top is to conform to the new studies that say that patients find sparkly doctors twenty-percent more trustworthy."

"Ah. Right. Sorry. Umm... nice shoes?"

"Nice try, Rooster."

"Sorry. Can I make up for it with chocolate ice cream?" Sano was fairly certain there was still some ice cream in the freezer. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure when it was from, but he figured that he could always chip off the ice crystals and douse it in Kahlua. That usually worked.

"You know how I feel about things from your freezer, Sano. Besides, I had dessert with Misao. Some tea would be nice, though."

"Um... I'm not sure if I have any..."

She sighed. "Left of the stove, middle shelf. I brought it over two weeks ago. And no, before you ask, I don't want whatever in your fridge is currently claiming to be milk."

Putting the kettle on, Sano asked, "Kaoru didn't go with you guys? I thought you said the three of you had plans."

"This was the night she had dinner with Kenshin. Remember Kenshin? Your friend, with the red hair? The one who's interested in Kaoru?"

Sano blinked. "Ah. Um. That was tonight? Kaoru and Kenshin? Um. I thought it was... errr... later than now."

"No, it was tonight." Turning, Megumi got a mug out of the cupboard and then went to wash it. "Sano, I realize that you're caught up in the Halloween Party planning, but try to keep the cobwebs out of your brain. After all, you agreed that the two of them would make a good couple."

"Ah. Yes... yes, I did that. Umm... Megumi? Kenshin's... well, that is, the thing about Kenshin..."

"You should have heard him when Misao called," she said, grinning slightly. "Once he got over the shock, he thought it was a great plan. I don't understand what Racoon-girl's problem is... Kenshin's a great guy, and he's clearly really interested in her."

"Yeah... yeah... Kenshin's definitely a great guy," Sano said, weakly. Fortunately, Megumi was too busy trying to decide if what she had found was sugar to notice his tone.

Changing the subject, Sano remarked, "So, Katsu and I... well, Tae and Katsu and... well, mostly Tae... anyway, we have the party menu worked out. She wanted you to call her to double-check things before she orders stuff. I think she's getting some things from France, so it needs to be taken care of ASAP."

"Of course she's getting things from France; that's the theme of the party. What _have_ you been putting in those decorations?"

Sano made a noncommittal noise and followed his girlfriend back into the living room. Sitting down next to her on the couch, he waited until she had set the tea back down and then started rubbing her shoulders.

"Damn, beautiful; what did you have for dinner? You're all tense."

Sighing heavily, she leaned forward so that he could work across her shoulderblades. "Dinner was great. Except, of course, for the fact that those _idiots_ at the hospital called me _again_ and I had to go back over there."

"Difficult case?" Sano guessed.

"No, it's that guy from the accident."

"They _still_ haven't straightened that out? Why are they making such a big deal about this? I mean, is his family pissed off, or what?"

"No, no family. I mean, he supposedly has a brother, who nobody can find either... I think it's just that they got into so much trouble last year that they want to place the blame wherever they can, as long as it's not them."

"You mean that thing with Mrs. McCleary? Did she ever turn up?"

"Yes, Sano, but that's not the point. The hospital almost got sued, and those formaldehyde-sniffing morons got their asses handed to them on a platter. Now the same thing happens, in spite of all the precautions and new rules and paperwork, and even though I signed everything I was supposed to and followed all the proper procedures, they're trying to claim it must be _my_ fault."

Brushing a kiss against her cheekbone, Sano settled her against him. "It will be alright, Meg. Everybody at the hospital knows how good you are. They know you wouldn't do anything stupid."

She relaxed, but sighed as she said, "I know that, but in the meantime, I have to keep dealing with annoying phone calls at all hours of the night."

"Well, the next time they call you, just give the phone to me. I'll talk to them."

At that, unexpectedly, she laughed. "Oh, no, Rooster-boy. I am NOT letting you talk to anybody at my job again. I'm trying to avoid trouble, not cause it."

"Ah, you know you love me," Sano asked, grinning lopsidedly.

Megumi scowled, but it was half-hearted. Whatever she mumbled under her breath made him laugh out loud as he pulled her in to kiss her and whisper something that had her blushing in turn even as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

* * *

Not going back into the building where he knew Kaoru lay sleeping was the most difficult thing Kenshin had done all week. He could picture her, curled up around one of her pillows, snuggled under a blanket so that only her long black hair was visible.

The way that she felt wrapped around him burned in his memory, the surprise he had felt that first night when she had curled up and sought comfort in his arms. He could have brought her back to her own apartment, or left her in his bed while he took the couch, but he had found himself unable to let her go after bringing her back from that factory, from everything that had happened there.

His resolution held up until he got a good look at what she had done to her wrists. By the time he had fetched his First Aid kit, he knew he wasn't going to be letting her go that night. In fact, he hadn't really wanted to let her go the following morning, either. The fact that Jineh had grabbed her, had _hurt_ her...

Thinking about Jineh brought his mind back to Soujiro, to the idea that Kaoru could have been the target of surveillance. Much as he hated to admit it, it did make sense. In fact, it might answer some of his questions about Jineh's ability to find him. Just because Jineh had been a bloodthirsty psychopath who took pleasure in the hunt as well as the kill didn't mean that there hadn't been times when he had been willing to follow orders and take payment. Especially if it had meant that he would have a chance to fight an opponent he found interesting.

'_Jineh was surprisingly competent when it came to finding me...'_ Kenshin thought to himself as he paced the sidewalk. _'I didn't think to question it at the time, but... now that Soujiro has appeared... what if Jineh was more of a test case? Somebody independent who was known to be my enemy, who I was known to be hunting... there would be no direct link, nothing to even show where Jineh had gotten his information from. And if he had killed me, it would have been a nice bonus.'_

Once again, he repeated to himself that Kaoru would be well watched over in his absence. That the Wolf had been right when he pointed out that Kaoru was more of a target with him in the city than out of it.

It didn't help. No matter how much sense it made, thinking the words "Kaoru" and "danger" in the same sentence still made Kenshin want to growl and wrap himself around her, sword drawn, and never let go.

And now he was being asked to go back to Kyoto... Kenshin sighed and ran his hand across his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Thinking this way was not helping. Thinking this way made him want to stride through shadows into Kaoru's room and just hold her until she woke up. The only things keeping him from it were the knowledge that it was imperative for him to reach the temple as soon as possible... and the fact that he would have to tell Kaoru where he was going and why.

And that would lead to questions Kenshin couldn't take the time to answer right now.

Not to mention questions he didn't think he was ready to answer.

Casting one last look up at the building where Kaoru slept, Kenshin turned resolutely and walked into the shadows, towards Kyoto and the answers he hoped to find there.

* * *

Next Chapter: Katsu finally gets a chance to try out those French Literature-themed Halloween cocktails he's been practicing... even the demons are Fleeing in Terror.

Author's Note: Well, after moving into a shiny new apartment, helping my parents get ready to move to a shiny new house, the semester that Ate My Brain, AND a nerve-wracking fifteen hours when my shiny new roommate and I thought the cat we're looking after had swallowed a Christmas ornament... this chapter is finally done! The good news is that while I was beating my head against this, I took breaks by writing the next couple of chapters. Which, considering the extent to which this chapter was refusing to play nicely, led to some ridiculously long future chapters. And, in other good news, said new roommate has sworn a solemn oath that "Moonlight" WILL be finished on a reasonable schedule, with regular chapter postings, even if she has to lock me in the study and feed me bread and water (Umm.. thanks?).

In this chapter I don't own: Kahlua. None! Hmm... perhaps that's the reason this took so long to write?

Reviewer Responses: Gah. Well, apparently, these are now illegal and banned by ffnet. I am really unhappy about it, but there it is. So, instead of doing individual comments, I will say some general things and figure out how exactly I want to handlethe situation in the futuer. They apparently want us to write back to individual reviewers, but only if they have an ffnet account. There are also new forums, which I know nothing about. In other news, I now have a livejournal! Some friends threat--- err.. encouraged me to put one up, quite possibly because they felt that an increase in comments and feedback would lead to faster updating. Hee. The address is: http(colon)/www(dot)livejournal(dot)com/users/jane(underscore)drew(underscore)/ Now, the underscores are important, because otherwise, you're going to get various folks who aren't me. Since the journal is brand new, I am going to start writing in it tonight, so don't worry if you visit it and there's nothing there yet.

Some quick comments: I am, of course, thrilled that so many people read and reviewed! And that folks put up with the looooooong delay. Thank you for the support, encouragement, virtual cookies and chocolate, and the occasional threats. Eep! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! As you can see, this was a very Kenshin-focused chapter, one that I hope gave some more insight into him and dropped some hints about future directions. As many of you noticed, what Kaoru learned about him in the last chapter definitely seems to have made her feel more comfortable around Kenshin. At least when he's kissing her so passionately that she can't think straight. Shirou Shinjin made a very fun suggestion about writing a chapter as if it was a film noir... now there's an idea! So far, I have gotten Shakespeare and film noir as suggested styles. Dea Mariella asked about where demons keep their weapons and things—well, the way I think of it, they have a kind of magical "space"—kind of like an interdimensional closet. They can keep things there and then take them back out when they need them. As for folks who enjoyed Hiko's magical (and yet annoying) ability to make all the phones ring... (laughs evily) Thank you! In terms of future developments... well, you'll have to wait and see! Next chapter we will finally get to the Halloween party, and that should be a lot of fun. If anybody has nineteenth-century French characters they'd like to see turn up, please let me know!


	32. Le Grand Bal

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Le Grand Bal

* * *

'I really don't see what's so French about these cobwebs," Kaoru said thoughtfully as she finished stretching the last package of them across a corner of the room. "I mean, are you going to put little berets on the spiders or something?"

"_Literature, _Kaoru my love, just think of them as something from a book. There are tons of cobwebby spaces in nineteenth-century French literature! Basements, prisons, mysterious haunted castles..."

"OK, ok, fine, the cobwebs are tres magnifique. What's next on the list?"

As Katsu was consulting his clipboard, Sano came up from the basement with another box of supplies for the bar. The main storage area was in the cellar, but for larger events, they always made sure to bring up as much as the smaller storage room on the main floor could hold, to save running up and down the stairs.

Kaoru looked at her watch. In another half-hour, Megumi and Misao would show up with their costumes, and the band would start warming up. By the time they'd all gotten changed, enough people would be in the bar to make it interesting. It was always a bit tricky to plan the timing when she spent the time between work and the party helping to decorate the bar, because it meant having to balance not being seen running around without her costume once the party had gotten started and loitering about dressed up when nothing was going on yet.

'_Although... with my costume, I really could just go and change into the clothes and just save the bits where I put dirt on my face and mess up my hair... No, no; I promised the other two that we would change together and help each other out. Misao is sure to have some advice on how to convincingly dress up as a boy; she certainly pulled that stunt often enough back in college.'_

Sighing, she admitted the reason why she was looking for something to occupy herself with. The date, assuming it counted as a date, with Kenshin had certainly given her plenty to think about. Of course, at the end of the evening, she'd been too distracted by thoughts of Kenshin's hands and his lips and... Kaoru realized that her face had gone bright red and sternly made herself recite Kamiya Kasshin moves until she wasn't blushing, hoping that Katsu was too distracted by checking things off on his list to notice.

'_Ok... I think that we can take my distraction that evening as a given... skipping ahead... well... I guess I was expecting him to come over. Or call. Or leave a note. Or... well, something...'_

Looking back, Kaoru could admit to herself that her expectation that Kenshin would be lurking outside her door in the morning, or at the school, or at her door in the afternoon, had been something she'd focused on so that she wouldn't have to think too much about the events of the night before. And by that she meant _all_ of the events of the night before, not just the way the evening had come to an end.

Of course, by the time dinner had rolled around and her day had been marked by a surprising lack of red-heads, Kaoru had started picking the evening apart, trying to figure out why. The next day, she had been distinctly distracted during lunch, and by the time she was heading home from work on the third day, she was two seconds away from stopping just to pick up one of those magazines with articles like, "How Do You Know If He Knows What You Think," or "When First Dates Attack," or possibly a helpful quiz to see how the evening scored on a scale of mild to wild, or Oatmeal to Habernero, or however the cool kids were scoring these things nowadays.

Fortunately, before she'd picked up the phone to call Megumi and Misao and go over the entire evening in the kind of detail that could only lead to blackmail, the postcard had arrived. Granted, the postmark had been blurry, and, unless either Kenshin or the Postal Service had mastered the trick of sending mail back in time, the date couldn't have been right, but the message was perfectly legible.

She only hoped that the mailman hadn't read it.

Once Kaoru had stopped sputtering and cleaned the coffee off of the counter, she took the postcard over to her desk for investigation. The picture on the front was a landscape, trees and a set of buildings in the distance. From what she could see, the architectural style looked foreign; something pointy and possibly Asian. A quick trip to the kitchen to dig some Ramen cups out of the cupboard confirmed that the printed characters on the postcard were Japanese.

"Hey, Kaoru? Can you set up the cemetery?" Katsu's sudden appearance startled her out of her reverie. "The headstones are behind the speakers; characters are on the left, authors on the right. Mix them up if you want to." he continued, oblivious to the way Kaoru had jumped at his approach.

Kaoru covered her confusion by looking at Katsu's outfit. He had changed into a voluminous red robe and perched a hat on his head. She wasn't sure what he had done with most of his hair, since it couldn't possibly all be under the hat. However, she decided there were secrets she just didn't want to know. Including the reasons why he was carrying a bowl full of things that looked way too eyeball-like for her to be entirely comfortable asking about.

"In costume already?" she queried. "Don't you still have work to do... you know, setting up and stuff?"

"Sano and I figured one of us needed to be sure to be in character before things started, and I got picked," he explained. Turning so that she could see the full splendor of his outfit, Katsu preened and said, "So... what do you think? Great, huh? Appropriately _Eminence rouge_-like air of authority and all that?"

Adopting a serious demeanor, Kaoru said, "I have been warned about you and your notorious schemes to rule the country from the shadows, sir, and you will be thwarted! And furthermore, I suggest that you are none other than Ron Higgins, professional Cardinal Richelieu impersonator, and thus have no place at a party like this in the first place."

Katsu stifled a snort, then grinned. "Curse you Inspector Dim. You are too clever for us naughty people! I must trust to your discretion, I suppose... or note that I went out and got that chocolate-covered candied ginger you raved about last year, _just _because I know you like it. Oh, and be sure to get some of those headstones up on the balcony."

"Alas, you know my weakness. Very well; I shall hold my tongue regarding your true identity, at least for now. But I thought you were going all Moulin Rouge up on the balcony. Sano and Misao spent the whole morning hanging fabric and putting those little twinkly lights up. Don't think the cemetery vibe matches with the whole "Voulez vous couchez avec moi"-ness."

"Good point. OK, in that case, be sure not to put any headstones up in the balcony area, whatever you do. Just put any extras around the base of the bar."

"Where nobody will see them, because they'll be pressing up against the bar and ordering drinks? Or do you expect people to be passing out next to the bar again?"

"I just don't want to waste them!" Katsu exclaimed, "Hey, I spent a long time thinking those things up! I mean, there's —Flaubert, and half the cast of _Nana_—well, the ones who end up dead--, and Balzac and—don't snort, Sano, he was a famous author! —and Milady DeWinter and..."

"That's what you get for picking such a damned complicated theme!" Sano commented, shaking his head in mock sympathy. "Should have gone with my Hawaii idea. Skeletons and surfboards; what's not to love?"

"The fact that the last time you, um, "borrowed" all the model skeletons from the University Hospital, Megumi almost made sure you ended up as one?" Kaoru suggested as she started sorting through the cardboard headstones Katsu had spent the past couple of weeks cutting out and painting. Sano gulped audibly and said nothing further.

Looking over what had been written, she commented, "Hmm... Katsu? I'm not sure Abbé Faria even _had_ a tombstone."

"Oh for... just assume Edmond had him properly buried afterwards, alright?" Shaking his head and muttering something about overthinking, Katsu headed out of the room.

Once Katsu had gone back into the kitchen to finish dealing with the snacks and make sure that they had enough fruit chopped to garnish the drinks, Kaoru picked up the pile of headstones that seemed to have roughly alcohol-related themes and went to fasten them to the bar. As she started tearing pieces of double-sided tape, she looked sideways towards where Sano was double-checking the supply of clean glasses and decorative paper umbrellas and casually said, "You know, Sano, I could have sworn that you were going to have that conversation with Megumi, about demons and high schools and how those are surprisingly relevant topics in today's modern society."

"Ah..." Sano said, his hands full of tiny plastic swords, "Well, Missy, you know... not really a good time, and... lots of getting ready for the party... um... complicated theme and all..."

"Oh, _really_," Kaoru responded, standing up to lean over the bar. "So... a conversation like, "Bye, sweetie, Misao and I are going to go set Kaoru up with that charming red-headed friend of yours..." provided no conversational openings? No chance to set the record straight, as it were?"

For the second time within the span of two weeks, Sano actually blushed. He opened his mouth to stammer a response, but no words were forthcoming. As Kaoru continued to level a glare in his direction, he finally managed, "Ah... well... um, actually, I've been... there's something else I had to... this week just wasn't a good time to get into that discussion, ok? I'll talk to her after I've... um... dealt with the other stuff I need to ask her about."

Fortunately for him, before Kaoru could start implementing some of her ideas about mummified Rooster as an appropriate Halloween decoration, cheerful voices from the entrance heralded the arrival of Megumi and Misao. After fixing Sano with a final dark look, Kaoru turned and smiled at her friends as they entered the bar. Megumi was carrying a large garment bag over one arm, and Misao had the two smaller packages that Kaoru recognized as holding the costumes they had picked out.

Misao squealed as she looked around at the transformed bar and exclaimed, "Oh! I love it! The cobwebs are perfect— wow, Katsu, did you do entirely new tombstones?"

"Well, they had to be French. The cowboy ones didn't fit."

"I still say nobody's gonna be reading them," Sano declared casually as he strolled over to greet his girlfriend.

Sensing that Katsu was about to feel compelled to defend the honor of his work, Kaoru cut in, "No dueling until we can pretend its part of the party atmosphere, you two! Now, I have to go get urchined up, so you two boys try not to do anything stupid that wreaks all the lovely decorations I've been putting up all afternoon, ok? Sano, _you_ get to finish up the tombstones."

Before they could do more than open their mouths to protest her accusations, she had waved, turned, and headed towards the back office that traditionally served as the decoration storage area and changing room. When she came in, Misao was removing the elements of her Esmeralda outfit and counting the scarves.

"Misao... please don't tell me that you added _more_ scarves?"

"No! I mean, just a couple. I couldn't decide which color would work best... here, what do you think, the turquoise or the canary-colored?"

"I think that either way, you're going to look appropriately nineteenth-century Parisian Gypsy. You can always keep some scarves in reserve in case you lose some."

"Were there actual Gypsies in nineteenth-century Paris?" Megumi wondered from over in the corner where she was carefully opening up the garment bag to hang out her costume.

"Probably," Kaoru said. "At any rate, this isn't a history party, it's a literature party. Very little connection to actual reality."

"Which makes it perfect for Sano and Katsu," Megumi sighed. "Speaking of those two reprobates, I am going to go make sure that they haven't screwed anything up and that everything is all set in terms of the money. I'll be back to change in a couple of minutes, ok?"

"OK!" Kaoru said, looking curiously over to where the other girl's costume was hanging. "Wow..." she murmured as she caught a good look at it for the first time. "Where on earth did Megumi find... I mean, that's... that's _amazing.._."

Her voice trailed off as she walked over for a closer look at what was quite possibly the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in her life. The fabric was crimson, a deep red that seemed to glow in the light without being obnoxiously shiny. The skirt was full, red with a black underskirt that was visible where it split in the front. The bodice appeared to have boning in it; at any rate, when Kaoru ran her hand up it, she could feel that it was fairly well re-enforced with _something_. There was an intricate pattern of leaves and flowers embroidered in black along the neckline and around to the back, with black lacing running down underneath it to just below the waistline.

"Do you think this will be comfortable for her?" Kaoru asked absently, running her hands over the sleeves and noticing how they had been slashed to show black undersleeves that puffed out and contrasted to the crimson.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Misao demanded, coming up behind her. "We looked in four different shops; there were a couple of other possibilities, but Megumi said she knew exactly what she was looking for, and she wasn't going to settle for less."

"It's absolutely gorgeous—I mean, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it; it's perfect. Did you see the embroidery on the outer sleeves, here, where they bell out? Everybody's going to see her in this and their eyes are going to fall out of their sockets. Which I suppose works in the overall Halloween-ness of things... Anyway, thou shallt not covet thy neighbor's costume, so I need to stop staring at it and go get appropriately grungy." With a wistful exhalation and a last run of her hand down the smoothness of the fabric, Kaoru turned around to see Misao looking at her with an expression that had her eyes widening in alarm.

"What?" Kaoru slowly asked, suspicion creeping up the back of her spine.

"Kaoru... I am _so_ happy that you love your costume!" Misao squealed, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands.

"Wh... I.. you--- tha—MISAO!" Kaoru wailed, "You _didn't_! _Please_ tell me that you didn't! You can't possibly—Misao, we _picked_ a costume—and it was a good costume! It was exactly what I was looking for, and..."

"Instead of, and I quote, something that is "absolutely gorgeous" and "perfect," oh girl who just used the word "covet"?"

"Misao... I... I can't wear this; it's... it's something for Megumi, someone who can actually pull something like this off, somebody who can be all elegant and not trip over the hem or accidentally whap somebody with the sleeves when they turn around..."

"Don't be silly, Kaoru; you just need to have some self-confidence about trying something new! It'll be great; trust me!"

"It will _not_ be great, Misao, it will be a disaster! You can't possibly think that I can pull something like this off; it would mean having to be graceful, and elegant, and...

"_And_ it would mean Megumi has to wear the Gavroche outfit," Misao pointed out. "We have three costumes; there are three of us."

Kaoru's eyes widened in shock. "Megumi would wear... wait... are you saying that if I wear this dress, Megumi will have to be a street urchin? For the whole evening? Where there are other people around?"

The thought of her composed, ever-fashionable, always well-put-together cousin having to spend the whole party dressed as a scruffy young street rat was almost enough to make her laugh out loud... and more than enough to make her re-think her position on wearing the red dress.

'_It is a beautiful dress...that fabric, and the embroidery... I should be able to manage not to trip over the skirt or end up with my sleeves in the punchbowl, right? And how often am I ever going to have the chance to play at being a princess? Not to mention that having pictures of Megumi dressed as Gavroche would be unbeatable blackmail material... '_

Still slightly skeptical, Kaoru raised an eyebrow and asked, "You'll do my hair? And make-up? Nothing flashy, just... something that goes with the outfit?"

Sensing that Koru had already made up her mind, Misao nodded eagerly and said, "Of course! Don't worry; no temporary hair color or weird eye shadow. I'm under orders from Megumi; she said that if you get to wear the dress that _she_ picked out, I have to make sure you're, and I quote, "worthy" of it. Then we get to make sure that Megumi gets appropriately grimy; I'm thinking Gavroche is too young to have a beard or stubble or anything, but her face should definitely be dirty."

"And shadows under her eyes!" Kaoru declared authoritatively. "And her hands need to look... well, we can't do anything about the manicure, but can we make her wear gloves or something?"

The younger girl giggled at her friend's enthusiasm for turning her cousin into a grubby French street rat for an evening and nodded. "Sure! I even have an idea how we can put her hair up, but leave the ends hanging down, all uneven. She's wearing that cap, so it won't be noticeable."

Tilting her head, Misao said, "Actually, hang on; Megumi should be back in a minute, and we'll make sure that she gets in costume first. That way, you can help with the ceremonial begriming, so to speak, and you won't have to worry about getting anything on your sleeves... then we can get you all set and into that dress and laced up and made up and pepped up... you'll look gorgeous!"

Privately, Kaoru thought that it was the dress that would look gorgeous; she was just going to be along for the ride. However, she grinned and replied, "And then at midnight, I'll turn back into a pumpkin so that I can help with the cleaning up and herding out of anybody who doesn't want to leave. This is going to be fun!"

Turning Megumi into a fox in urchin's clothing actually didn't take too long, probably because Kaoru had picked a relatively simple costume for herself on purpose. Misao did something complicated involving hairpins and strategic folding to make Megumi's normally straight, shiny hair into something that stuck out at all angles from under her cap and looked like it had been clipped with a pair of nail scissors. In fact, Misao jokingly suggested trimming the ends once she'd gotten everything pinned to her satisfaction, but Megumi failed to see the humor and made a series of threats that had Kaoru covering her mouth to stifle giggles and Misao turning slightly green.

Once that was taken care of, Kaoru set about trying to figure out how to get into the crimson dress. She wasn't really surprised to discover that Misao had brought stockings and low-heeled black slippers with crimson embroidery that matched the dress, some earrings, and some sparkly pieces that Kaoru didn't recognize but that Misao explained were for use in her hair.

"OK," Megumi explained as Kaoru started to get changed, "The bodice is boned—well, it's actually pretty much a corset, so that's all the support you'll need up top. And there's an underskirt already; see where the black shows through?"

"Personally," Misao piped up as she lifted the dress down, "I don't know how real ladies in the historical versions of these dresses didn't constantly fall over from the weight of their own petticoats. Trust me, with the crowds that are going to be here tonight, you're lucky not to have to deal with that."

She helped Kaoru get the dress over her head, then both other girls spent what felt to Kaoru like an inordinate amount of time adjusting the bodice, including making sure that the lacing was tight enough so that everything, as Misao put it, "Fits the way it's supposed to without making you need a fainting couch every five seconds, or wish you'd had some ribs removed. Not that Megumi couldn't do that; it would just take more time than we have... ok, now hold your breath for a second... can you exhales?"

When Kaoru nodded, Misao finished the lacing, clapped her hands, then pushed her into a chair, and proceeded to brush her hair out thoroughly while Megumi went to get the nail polish. Kaoru used the time to adjust to the strange feeling of wearing a corset.

'_Well, now I know what a tinned sardine feels like...'_ she thought, figuring out the best way to breath in her new dress. Instead of her normal style, the one she had learned through years of kendo, Kaoru found herself having to take breaths that were somehow up and down. _'On the other hand, I'm not too constricted, or like I'm going to pass out... it's snug, and I certainly don't have to worry that it's going to fall down and embarrass me, but I don't feel like I'm wearing an iron lung... and I love the way this skirt drapes...I wonder what blend this fabric is...'_

"I'm going to do a basic French manicure... it seemed appropriate," Megumi explained as she pulled a chair over so that she could sit in front of Kaoru and hold her hands. "Plus, it will be quicker, and you won't wake up tomorrow and panic because your nails are still bright red."

" M'at onl' happ'ed once!" Misao protested, her mouth full of hairpins.

Misao and Megumi chattered brightly, speculating on who would show up and what they would wear as they worked. Misao brushed and braided and twisted and pinned Kaoru's hair with deft fingers, working in several of the ornaments from the selection she had brought. Meanwhile, Megumi was busily taking care of Kaoru's nails. Kaoru was barely listening to her explanation that she wasn't being given a _full_ manicure, more of a quick party version. Her mind had drifted back to what Kenshin had said in his postcard.

'_He said he had been called out of town on business, and that he'd be back as soon as he could, and that he ... gah! I'm blushing again. Not in front of the Weasel, NOT in front of the Weasel... I wish he could have made it back for the party. He's friends with Sano... he must know about it... but if he's had to leave town... on the other hand, he never seems to miss an opportunity to bother me, at any rate, and I can just imagine that the thought of a party like this would cause an outbreak of evil demonic chuckles... so it seems likely that he'll show up if he's anywhere in the vicinity. Not that I'm wearing this dress because of that... I mean, this is a chance for me to dress up and wear something pretty for reasons having nothing to do with demons.'_

Then she realized that the thought wasn't making her panic the way that it would a couple of weeks ago... before she had learned more about his job, as it were.

'_It's not just a job; it's an adventure, I guess. Or possibly a quest. I mean, making the world safe, one demon-infested high school at a time... Which means that I don't have to worry about him committing random massacres... just carefully planned ones... is that better? I mean... he's eliminating threats, things that would really go out and commit random massacres. So how do I feel about that piece of news, which I've avoided thinking about fairly successfully so far, all things considered? Guess there's no time like the present, since nothing else is going on that I need to actively participate in... well, I can start thinking about it, anyway. I mean, for so long, I was so certain, Kenshin was evil. It was the whole reason I killed him... which I still haven't asked him how he felt about... probably should do that at some point...' _

Megumi and Misao were involved in a discussion about exactly what ornaments should go into Kaoru's hair, and reached the point where they actually felt compelled to ask her opinion about it.

"I can't _see_ what you've done to my hair, Misao; hand me a mirror, and then I can offer an opinion about which would look better!"

"Oh... actually," Megumi suddenly said, "I think you're right, Misao; I forgot, there's a fan that goes with the dress, and those ornaments that you picked out match better. Can you finish with Kaoru's hair and do her make-up? It sounds like people are starting to show up, and I promised Sano I'd help out front."

"Sure! OK, Kaoru, just hold still for a second and let me put these in!" Once Misao had finished with her hair, she moved around to the front and applied make-up with a much lighter touch than usual. Kaoru was grateful; she was supposed to be aiming for elegant, and too much make-up would just make her look like a caricature.

'_These parties are always so much fun... dancing, friends, fun costumes, silly prizes, raising money for charity... and none of that pairing-off vibe that you get in a nightclub... I mean, even if Kenshin does show up... well, if he asked... I mean, I could... maybe... I could dance with him if he asked me, and maybe ask him some more questions... that would be ok, right? It might be nice to dance with him and actually know that I was doing it at the time... now that I know he's not evil... well, not evil in a job-related sense...'_

Truth be told, Kaoru had already admitted to herself that she was looking forward to this party as a distraction from several important conversations she knew she had to have with herself about Kenshin, concerning her feelings about him, and what appeared to be his for her. If demons had feelings. Which they apparently did, based on her recent experience, which was another thing she still wasn't sure she really wanted to think about.

'_Of course, the tricky bit will be using this party as a distraction from thinking about him if he's actually here... on the other hand, he'll just be another guy in a costume who I can dance with for a bit, maybe get a drink from the bar...something more normal than the usual chasing and waffles...'_

"OK, you are good to go, Milady!" Misao declared with enthusiasm as she finished blending Kaoru's eye shadow for her. "Just slip your shoes on... oh, and Megumi said there was a fan... it should be in the bag. I'm going to go start circulating and keep an eye open for Aoshi. He wouldn't tell me what he was dressing up as; said I'd have to find him. Isn't that cool?"

"Misao, the man is a foot and a half taller than you are and has eyes that could cut glass; it should _not_ be difficult to find him." Kaoru observed as she put her shoes on and stood up.

"I hope not!" the petite girl chirped, practically skipping out the door. "See you out there!"

Kaoru shook her head at her friend's enthusiasm and went to look for the fan. Sure enough, it was in a pocket of the garment bag. It was black sandalwood, with some tiny dark red stones set in a pattern along the base. Opening it, she practiced fluttering it experimentally before giggling. The idea of her getting to play a fine, aristocratic lady, with all the airs and graces and manners associated with the role, was incredibly funny. Grinning to herself as she headed out the door, she wondered what her father and brother would say if they could see her, running around in a ballgown, complete with fan and sparkly hair ornaments!

The bar was already getting fairly crowded, and Kaoru decided that she should try to find Sano or Megumi and see if there was anything he needed help with. She couldn't see either of them, but figured that heading towards the bar was a good bet.

"Excuse me, can I get by?" Kaoru politely asked a group standing practically in front of the hallway. The man nearest to her turned with a smile, and said, "Su---..." before he stopped, jaw hanging open.

Kaoru blinked at the unexpected response, but didn't want to ask a total stranger what was wrong with her, so merely smiled, thanked him, and passed by before he could finish whatever it was he was saying.

'_I looked at the dress before I put it on... and Megumi and Misao would have taken care of it if they'd spilled something on it while they were doing my nails or my make-up... Are my hair ornaments crooked or something, because that guy wasn't even looking at my shoes, so I don't know what else he could have... been... staring... oh... my... God...'_

The mirror along one side of the bar was partially covered with fake cobwebs, and the lighting in the bar was even dimmer than usual, but Kaoru suddenly found herself faced with a reflection that was at first completely unrecognizable.

The skirt of the dress fell in graceful folds, crimson seeming to glow in the light, and black absorbing it. The slimness of her waist was emphasized by the cut and angle of the corset; the delicate embroidery looked even more intricate in the shadows.

None of that, looked at rationally, was really a problem. In fact, Kaoru could admit to herself that it was a good color for her to wear.

The bodice, on the other hand...

'_Why didn't I remember the illustrations of women wearing corsets from history class when Megumi mentioned them? Why, oh, why, oh why... I mean... that's...that's...'_

Kaoru could now readily understand why the brain of the man she'd tapped had shut down. Hers seemed to be in the middle of undergoing the same process, the only question that she could piece together being something along the lines of, "Where did _those_ come from?"

The neckline was a graceful curve, accented by the embroidery. Kaoru had known that it was an off-the-shoulder dress, but she hadn't realized how low the neckline dipped, showing off her collarbones and the hollow at the base of her neck. At the same time, the structure of the corset meant that she was now showing off cleavage that looked like it belonged in one of Misao's racier novels. In fact, as Kaoru fought to control suddenly panicked breathing, several of the common phrases used in those books made much more sense now.

'_Oh, no... no, no, no wonder they wouldn't let me see a mirror... and... Megumi picked this costume out on purpose, I ­know she did... and Misao with her...I am going to kill them... painfully... people are staring... people are ­staring, what I am I supposed to do now?'_

Fortunately, Kaoru remembered her fan before she hyperventilated or turned the color of her dress. By holding it in front of her in what she hoped was a ladylike fashion, and fluttering slowly, she at least felt like she wasn't half an inch away from flashing the entire room. Not to mention that she felt much better having something in her hands that she could smack people with if necessary. Having taken care of her immediate problem, she turned with narrowed eyes to see if she could locate her friends and _calmly_ explain to them the many ways in which she was going to hurt them.

Kaoru's plan ran into difficulty due to the fact that her normal strategy of slipping through crowds unnoticed was a complete and utter failure. She could practically feel

the stares, and more than once a complete stranger tried to offer her a drink, with an expression on his face that made her seriously consider using her fan to wipe it off. Unfortunately, Misao and Megumi seemed to be well aware of what her mood would be once she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the dress and were strategically avoiding wherever she happened to be heading. She thought she caught a glimpse of a brightly-scarved gypsy being yelled at by some old lady with shoes hanging around her neck, near the dance floor, but decided that there was no way she was heading anywhere near someplace full of people getting down to the beat. Kaoru had no experience with corsets, but as far as garments went, they didn't exactly seem to have been born to boogie.

Giving up, she made for the wall and tried to stay out of sight, positioning herself behind somebody dressed as a Three Musketeers Bar. Either the Fox or the Weasel was bound to show up at some point; until then, Kaoru had no problem waiting.

For one thing, it gave her more time to calculate exactly how much damage one sandalwood fan and a seriously peeved Raccoon-girl could inflict.

* * *

Kenshin slipped in through the front door of the club with a nod to the bouncer. He had considered using one of the back ways, but had decided that this was a better idea. After all, he didn't want to have to answer any questions about his sudden appearance later on. Not that he was planning on staying for long; Halloween was always a particularly tricky time in his line of work. The myths and cultural practices which had grown up around the holiday meant that there were always idiots who decided that it was a perfect night to try summoning a demon, or casting spells to get demonic powers. Since some of them were bound to work, it always meant a long night of preventive measures followed by messy clean-up work.

'_At least I could wear my sword with this,'_ he thought to himself as he moved effortlessly through the crowd. It always made him feel better to have his weapon in easy reach, especially on a night when there was likely to be a need for it. He had also kept his costume simple, the dark blue velvet of his coat contrasting with the paler shirt and patterned waistcoat, and complementing the black trousers. Frankly, he hadn't had the time to really research appropriate outfits. On the other hand, at least half of the crowd seemed to have only a vague idea of the theme, so he doubted anybody would call him on it. And, if they did... Kenshin smirked slightly and adjusted his sword again.

This year in particular, they had all agreed that they needed to be prepared for anything. Saitoh had been helping keep an eye open in the schools, and to cover patrols on his side of town; Kenshin wasn't sure how that had been negotiated, but he didn't really care. The potential threat was greater than any past grudges. He considered himself lucky to have been able to use his recent business trip as leverage to get at least part of the night off if he could finish everything up in Kyoto and return in time. It had been close; in fact, he had barely had time to check back in, but he was fairly proud that he had managed it.

Deciding he would have a better chance of spotting her if he stayed in one place, Kenshin settled back at the bar to see if he could catch a glimpse of Kaoru. He was determined to spend some time with her, continuing to get her used to having him in her life, even if it could only be for a couple of hours.

Besides which, he'd already arranged with Sano to have a couple of slower songs played once he'd managed to track down his kitten.

He was making small talk with Katsu at the bar, scanning the crowds and drinking one of the special Halloween cocktails— after Katsu had explained that it was his Grand Guignol special, Kenshin had deliberately tuned out the list of ingredients, concentrating instead on discretely disposing of the garnish on the grounds that he didn't want his drink looking back at him-- when he caught the sense of her across the room and turned to see where she was standing...

Katsu barely managed to catch Kenshin's glass before it shattered on the floor. Kenshin didn't even notice. In fact, he almost forgot to swallow. When he did, it was more of a reflex action than anything else, and he was lucky that he didn't choke. Although he probably wouldn't have noticed that either, because all of his attention was locked on...

Kaoru, standing there, her dark hair intricately braided and twisted and accented by subtle ornaments, her eyes huge and dark in her face, with a faint flush on her cheeks... Kenshin drank in the sight of her slender neck, the line of her shoulders and the way the paleness of her skin contrasted with the crimson and black of the dress.

The sight of her kindled something deep within him, sparking through his veins as he stared. Kaoru seemed to register the intensity of his look as she looked up, startled, and met his burning amber gaze. She went pale, and bit her lip at what she saw in his expression. Very slowly, very deliberately, Kenshin allowed his gaze to travel down along her body, all the way to her feet, before traveling back up, lingering appreciatively in places before he met her eyes again.

Never breaking eye contact, he smiled at her, a wicked curve of his lips that said more than any words could.

'_Mine.'_

Her breathing quickened nervously, and Kenshin's grin grew broader as he noticed the effect that had. The second she realized where exactly he was looking, Kaoru blushed and brought her fan up, opening it with a definite snapping motion. She glared at him from across the room, but he refused to even pretend to look contrite. Instead, he raised one eyebrow, daring her to comment as he kept his gaze locked with hers.

'_Mine. And you know it, kitten.'_

He didn't even bother to look at anyone else in the room as he moved towards her, never looking away. The force of his presence was enough to make the others in the room move out of his way automatically, not even turning to glance at him. Kaoru pressed herself against the wall, eyes darting nervously left and right, clearly looking for a way out, but always returning to look back at him, at the way he continued to devour her with his eyes.

When he was about halfway across the room, he paused momentarily as Kaoru's attention was distracted by a man to her right, who looked like he'd dug a bunch of vaguely military-looking bits and pieces out of the mothballs and tried to stuff himself into them, developing beer belly and all. He narrowed his eyes as the man bowed politely while raising Kaoru's hand to his lips. Kaoru's smile was brilliant, but didn't reach her eyes as she said something in return. The other man kept talking, and Kaoru's eyes flicked from him to Kenshin and then back before she nodded. Kenshin watched as he led Kaoru off towards the dance floor.

Realizing that he was automatically baring his fangs, Kenshin pulled his expression into something more composed as he moved to the edges of the room so that he could follow less conspicuously. As he moved, he admired the back of Kaoru's dress, the intricate lacing on the bodice and the way the cut showed off her shoulders and back.

'_I'll have to remember to thank Misao and Megumi later,'_ Kenshin thought to himself. Even without Kaoru's panicked expression, Kenshin would have known who had to be responsible for making her wear that dress. _'And I really should remember to thank Kaoru as well, of course. Thoroughly...'_

The music was fairly loud, but the area that had been cleared out to allow space for dancing wasn't as full as it could be. Kenshin maneuvered around a man dressed as what apparently was supposed to be a car and found a space by the wall where he could lounge and watch and plot. The interloper apparently didn't care that Kaoru's skirt might get stepped on, most probably by him, and Kenshin smirked.

'_Idiot.'_

The sight of said idiot moving into a classical dance position, hand around Kaoru's waist, made Kenshin's jaw tighten again. This was going to be much more difficult than changing places with that other moron at Killer Bluez.

Speaking of that, he really had to remember to let Robert or Randolph or whatever his name had been out at some point...

"Hey, Kenshin! Glad you could make it!" Sano said cheerfully as he came over, the ridiculous blue plume on his hat bobbing as he walked. "Whatcha lookin' a--- woh... is that... wow. I knew that Megumi and Misao had gotten her that dress, but damn, Kaoru looks good. Why aren't you out there with her?"

"Don't worry; I will be," Kenshin answered absently, his eyes never leaving the pair on the dance floor as he accepted the replacement drink from his friend. The other man's arm was firmly around Kaoru's waist and he had pulled her forward so that his body was pressing against hers.

"Um... Kenshin?" Sano whispered nervously, "I know it's Halloween and all, but... um... maybe you should be a bit more... discrete about the fang thing?"

Kenshin's eyes glanced briefly towards his friend, and he worked to get his grimace under control. "Sorry, Sano... I just don't like..." he trailed off and grinned as Kaoru clearly stepped on the man's feet. "And neither does she."

"Just try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum; that's all I ask..." Sano muttered. "We already allocated the money, and it ain't going to emergency services."

"I'll behave, Sano; I promise." _'At least while I'm in the club,'_ Kenshin mentally amended.

"Wasn't talking about you," Sano said mournfully, looking over at Kaoru again. Shaking his head to dispel the thought, the taller man said, "Say, been meaning to ask you; how the _hell_ do you manage to not constantly hit people with your sword? I've been smacking shins all night, and that S-Class guy went after me for denting his fender..."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow, "Well, Sano, it's not really something that you can learn that quickly. Why do you have to wear a sword, anyway? I mean, you're not carrying an actual musket..."

"Hey! It's part of the literature! All for one, and all running around ready to duel, you know? Tried to get Katsu to join in, but he said he preferred to work behind the scenes." Suddenly thinking of something, Sano said ruefully, "Damn... should have asked you if you wanted to..."

"No... no, I don't think so. Not really into the large capes. Not to mention the big plumey hats." Kenshin interrupted, forestalling his friend.

'Oh well... by the way, you supposed to be anything in particular, or did you just look through your wardrobe for stuff from nineteenth-century... err... never mind; forget I asked. Some things I just don't want to know." Changing subjects, Sano remarked, "Well, I was gonna ask when you wanted those slower songs, but I guess I'll just wait for a subtle sign from you... I'll be over with the DJ, ok?"

Kenshin nodded. "Thanks, Sano; I appreciate it. Just give me a couple of minutes to... oh, _hell..._"

Sano followed the red-head's line of sight to a tall man, resplendently dressed, with a full, elegantly curled wig, and a coat covered with complicated embroidery patterns in gold. Sano wasn't sure whether those were real seed pearls worked into the design or not, but he wouldn't have bet against it. There was a sword at the man's waist, and it looked like it belonged there. At any rate, in spite of his own bulk and the sword, he moved through the crowd on the dance floor as if they simply weren't worth noticing.

"Who is _that_?" Sano asked, blinking.

"I believe," Kenshin answered in a strained voice, "that it's Louis the Fourteenth." He took a long drink from his glass and then once again said, "Hell," in a thoroughly annoyed voice.

"Problems?" Sano hazarded.

"You have _no_ idea..." Kenshin sighed.

* * *

Kaoru kept her grin firmly in place in spite of the cheap cologne, leering expression, and incompetent dancing of her partner. If she was being generous, she probably would have to admit that the incompetence was the result of his brain routing all of his attempts at thought through the sight of her cleavage. Not to mention that all of his actual dance moves seemed designed to either give him a better view down her bodice or give him a chance to press up against her. He was lucky that the only thing she did to him was step on his foot, hard as she could.

'_Has this man never seen breasts before? What could possibly be that fascinating about... oh, never mind; I don't want to even try to figure out his thought patterns. If you can call it "thought." Just keep repeating to yourself that this is better than other options... and that once this dance is over, you can escape and find something that you can use as a cloak... cloaks are dashing and literary and can be used to hide weapons under...'_

The other thought that kept her from looking for a handy gravestone to beat him to death with and then bury under was the memory of the way Kenshin's eyes had burned as he looked at her, the way his entire expression had been... _hungry_. She could still feel the way that gaze had sent sparks everywhere his eyes had traveled.

Compared to that look, a few dances with morons was a much safer option.

'_In fact, I might just try to stay out here on the dance floor... oh, Lord, is he... drooling... eww...'_

Kaoru was hit by a very strong urge to curl in upon herself, as much as the corset would allow, before or after kneeing her dance partner in the groin. Before she could put her plan into action, a deep masculine voice from behind her declared, "If you can't dance with a lady properly, you shouldn't even try it. Go find someone at your own level of incompetence to play with."

As Kaoru managed to turn to get a look at the speaker, her first impression was of gold embroidery, perfectly curled hair, and well-muscled height. Bill, or Billy, or Mac, or Buddy, or whatever his name was, opened his mouth to say something, then quailed at the expression on the taller man's face. He stuttered something unintelligible, then took a step back. The sharp blow to the side of the neck he received from Kaoru's fan as he moved his arms away from her was almost entirely not an accident, even though she kept her perfectly polite smile pasted on her face the entire time.

Turning fully to see the man who had just cut in, she raised an eyebrow as she took in the full magnificence of his costume, from perfectly coiffed hair to perfectly polished, diamond-buckled boots. And the fact that his expression fit it perfectly. Tilting her head, Kaoru remarked, "You know, there was a man in an iron mask wandering around near the bar earlier; you might want to be careful."

He threw back his head and uttered a brief bark of laughter before he offered her his arm and moved into a dance position. Kaoru was pleased to note that her new partner knew how to hold her at enough of a distance so that they could converse. Of course, the height disparity still made things difficult, but the way that he was standing enabled her to look at him without having to strain her neck.

He also turned out to be an excellent dancer, making it very easy for Kaoru to follow his lead. The smile that she gave him was genuine as she said, "That was a very gallant rescue, your Majesty; I appreciate it."

"Rescuing you from being ogled, or him from serious bodily harm?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"The second, resulting from the first," Kaoru said with some amusement. "I'm impressed that you noticed the risk. _He_ certainly didn't."

Her partner snorted. "I wouldn't expect that one to notice much of anything unless it was blindingly obvious. In fact, he rather reminded me of someone else I know."

"Well, as long as_ they_ don't try to dance with me, things should be fine," Kaoru cheerfully remarked, then raised an eyebrow as the other man clearly held back another barking laugh. He executed an impressively complicated turn, which she followed without batting an eyelash.

'_Unexpected benefits of kendo training, number thirty-seven... ability to follow dance moves of partners if they are at all competent...'_

'_This party just might turn out to be fun after all...'

* * *

_

Next Chapter: Kaoru has the chance to re-evaluate that last thought, while Kenshin tries to decide if attempting to assassinate French royalty counts as "excessive bloodshed" according to Sano's definition.

Author's Note (hums "Coin-Operated Boy" to herself as she types): Happy 2006, everybody! I hope that everybody had a happy New Year! And, yes... umm... Kenshin's trip to Kyoto was indeed completed in record time. On the other hand, he had motivation to come back. Don't worry; the subject will come up again. Thank you to everybody who suggested costume ideas; we will get to see more of them next chapter (while the last chapter was the Chapter That Would Not Die, the Halloween Party was the Chapter That Would Not Stop). I'm glad that so many people were amused by Misao's choice of ringtones for Aoshi's phone. Hee. Thank you to all the new readers, including YunCyn (thank you for a lovely review; don't worry, I don't hate Kenshin! Look, I gave him a shiny, fancy dress-wearing present this chapter and everything!), Shenyu, tesuka-chan, and Tiber360 ( at the end of Chapter 5; Kaoru's question to Megumi is indeed referring back to her own earlier-stated intention to compile a list of horrible fates to inflict on Kenshin; no, it doesn't come up again...). So many other people left such lovely reviews, which made me very, very happy! I am still trying to figure out how to work reviewer responses under the new system, but figured that it was more important to get this chapter out. Hee. It takes a couple of hours to do the responses, so I need to decide how I'm going to schedule it.

In this chapter, I don't own: Vast quantities of nineteenth-century literature, including: Emile Zola's scandalous _Nana_, Alexandre Dumas' _The Count of Monte Christo_,(with its heroine, the lovely Mercedes...yes, yes; I just couldn't resist..., and the Abbe Faria, supposedly buried at sea), _The Three Musketeers_, or _The Man in the Iron Mask_, (with Louis XIV and his twin brother). Nor do I own _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_, with its assorted hunchbacks, gypsies, or crazy old street ladies. I also don't own Flaubert's _Madame Bovary_, with Emma Bovary, or Tolstoy's _Anna Karenina_ (which is not French). Nor do I own the Monty Python sketch with Ron Higgins, Professional Cardinal Richelieu Impersonator. I also don't own the Grand Guignol literary movement which focused on horror and shock effects (including the "gouged-out eye trick"). Information for these was taken from Wikipedia, which I also don't own. In addition, I don't own "All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun," sung by Sheryl Crow. Oh, and for those of you wanting an idea of what Megumi and Misao inflicted on Kaoru, this is the dress her costume was based on (although with a less poufy skirt, and in a deeper red with black instead of gold...): http/18thcenturycorsets(dot)smugmug(dot)com/gallery/41697/1/1464014/Large


	33. La Danse Macabre

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Under the spiffy new ratings system, this story is brought to you by the letter "T," for "teen and up," I suppose. It is, at any rate, the FanFiction rating that corresponds to "PG-13". If there is anything about a particular chapter that makes me feel it should be rated higher, I will make particular note of it.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Editing note: For some reason, I can't get ffnet to do the lines indicating scene breaks; I will do what I can now and try to correct it later.

Chapter Thirty-Three: La Danse Macabre

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"And then, from out of the back row, an entire frog came flying and landed right on Mr. Fujita's desk!" Kaoru concluded, grinning up at her dance partner as he gave another of his deep laughs.

She wasn't entirely certain how they had gotten onto the subject of her job, but she had to admit that it was a welcome relief to have something to focus on besides her dress, or the demon whose burning eyes she could still feel all along her spine. The man she was dancing with gave no sign that he even noticed either one, which also helped. His dry observations about the other partygoers made her laugh in turn, and she was extremely sorry when the music ended.

The next song was something very fast, very loud, and extremely bouncy. Kaoru, who had been seriously thinking about staying on the dance floor just to avoid... well, any non-dance-related entanglements... quickly dropped that plan in favor of getting away from the galloping hordes.

'_Not QUITE a hundred bad guys with swords, but definite poke-your-eye-out potential... you could occupy Paris with this many Musketeers!''_ she thought. Scanning the room, she saw several red cloaks, a red hat, and a spectacularly scarlet set of high-heeled boots, but no sign of red hair in the immediate vicinity. Kaoru let out a breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding and thought about which direction she wanted to go in.

As long as she was standing with a much larger man, she might as well take advantage of his ability to push through crowds. Turning to her dance partner, Kaoru smiled and said, "Thank you so much, your Highness... if I might trouble you to be dropped off over by the bar?"

For half a moment, there was no answer, his stare focused intently on something Kaoru couldn't see off in the darkness away from the dance floor. Then his attention returned to her as if it had never been elsewhere. "As my Lady requests," he replied, mouth quirking up in a smile.

Their progress was unimpeded, largely because anybody male who looked like they were going to approach was treated to a twin set of glares that could have set their costumes on fire. Halfway there, Kaoru caught sight of a familiar-looking plethora of scarves congregating around the petite form of her best friend, and her eyes narrowed.

'_Is it my imagination, or are there more scarves now than Misao had when the evening started?'_ she wondered. _'It figures that she would pick the mutant self-replicating scarves. Maybe I can bribe them to hold her down while I whap her for making me wear this outfit all evening where people can see me. Or, failing that, maybe I can just steal some and attach them to this dress... '_

After she was dropped off with a kiss to the hand and a courteous, sweeping bow, Kaoru headed purposefully towards where Misao was talking with Megumi, scarves flying as she moved her hands in typical Drama-Weasel fashion, nearly hitting the head of the oddly short, stooped man standing next to her.

"Megumi! Sano was telling me all about that missing body... ooo... spooooky...!"

The taller woman rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink. "It's not _missing_, Misao... it just got misplaced; as far as I know, they've decided it got sent to the wrong funeral home by mistake. The idiots in the morgue can't do paperwork correctly."

"You have no appreciation for the season," Misao pouted.

"How about I show you _my_ appreciation for the season by gettting you two to help me demonstrate some of the torture equipment decorating that back corner over there?" Kaoru asked sweetly, snapping her fan shut.

"There's torture equipment?" Misao asked, perking up. Meeting Kaoru's flat stare, she subsided with a sigh.

"Well, these shoes, for starters. If I wasn't sure it would make more of those dancing fools come up and try to bother me, I would be communing with the couches across from the graveyard."

"That's missing the point of your costume!" Megumi exclaimed. "More importantly, that's missing the point of making _me_ wear _this_ in public all evening!" Her hand gesture covered everything from the shoes Kaoru had carefully muddied and scuffed to the torn, poorly-stitched cap sitting on Megumi's normally immaculate, currently frizzed, hair.

Quailing under her cousin's glare, Kaoru tried a different tactic. "It's a beautiful dress; I have no problem admitting it's a beautiful dress! But it is not a dress which works well for _me_ at a party with lots of other people around. Do you not see the other people? Because there are a lot of them, clearly visible. I wasn't exactly born to flaunt, you know."

"First of all, there's nothing wrong with a little flaunting, especially when you know none of them are going to get anywhere. Second of all, there's _absolutely_ nothing wrong with flaunting in front of your significant other. In fact, it's practically part of the rules! Do you think if she wasn't here with her boyfriend, Misao would have chosen to run around in... ok, fine; bad example. My point is, you're wearing that outfit for you, and you're wearing it for Kenshin, and nobody else matters, so why are you worried?"

Kaoru wasn't sure where to start with that set of statements, so she settled for, "I didn't see Aoshi... when did he get here?"

Misao burst into giggles and pointed. Kaoru blinked at the man standing next to Misao, bent at an impossible angle—his head reaching to slightly above her shoulder, face made up to look hideous and twisted, muddied hair sticking out at angles that made Megumi's look tame.

"Hello, Ms Kamiya," he intoned, and Kaoru had to blink again to match Aoshi's cultured, deep voice, with the visage in front of her.

"See? We match," Misao claimed excitedly. "He was going to be Captain Phoebus, but I was re-reading the book, and... ewwww. I mean, _total_ bastard, start to finish. And, well, Grignoire was not only dull, but nobody would guess it, I don't care how "married" they were supposed to be. Besides which, this way he gets to show off his great disg—I mean, costume skills!"

"Oh." Kaoru said, somewhat weakly, "Well... that's great. I mean, I can see where it would be useful, having a boyfriend who's all... um... bendy like that."

Megumi sputtered and almost choked. Hitting her on the back, Misao muttered, "Told you not to drink when she's talking."

"What?" Kaoru said, looking at them.

"Nothing! Nothing at all," Megumi managed. "What did they put in here, cayenne pepper?"

"Oops.. sorry, Megumi; I guess I shouldn't have told Sano to consult with Yahiko about Halloween-themed drink ingredients."

Megumi's smile had a distinct edge to it as she asked, "So, where _is_ your charming brother this evening?"

"He's off trick-or-treating with Yutaro. And, before you ask, yes, he did spend most of the month claiming to be "way too old for that kids' stuff." Apparently, the prospect of getting a real samurai outfit for the evening _and_ trick-or-treating in the ritziest part of town _and_ sparring with his best friend between stops knocked years off his age."

"Where did he get a samurai outfit?"

"Yutaro's father had some." Before Misao could ask the question, Kaoru continued, "Yes, Misao, more than one. And, no, I did not get the chance to ask him why. Nor, if I had _had_ the chance, would I have asked, because there are some things I just don't want to know. All that matters to me is that not only is Yahiko out there, with company, being followed around by a limo with a driver—and no, Misao, that was not my idea— hitting up a bunch of ridiculously overpriced houses for his yearly allowance of sugar, but that he will be consuming most of that sugar over at Yutaro's house, where there is plenty of room for him to bounce off the ceiling and get it out of his system before Dad picks him up tomorrow."

"Wow, so neither of you are home to help your father with the traditional Kamiya dojo trick-or-treat extravaganza?"

"It's not an extravaganza," Kaoru said, mostly to Aoshi, who had raised an eyebrow at Misao's question. At least she thought he had raised an eyebrow; the costume made it even harder than normal to decipher his expression. "We just carve a bunch of jack o'lanterns and set them up, and we have some decorations for the lawn—a giant spider and a witch up in a tree; that sort of thing. And Dad always hands out Pocky. Don't ask me why. I think it's because he always ends up with leftovers he can eat afterwards."

There was a rustle of skirts behind her, and Kaoru turned to see Tae, balancing a tray full of food on her arm.

'_I don't believe it... somebody here ended up more extravagently dressed than me...'_ she thought as she looked at the normally staidly-clad restaurant owner. Tae's skirts were blue and gold, and her sleeves had puffs of tulle held by gumball-sized pearls. Elaborate lace cuffs extended up from her wrists, and she wore bracelets made of more large pearls. What really drew Kaoru's attention, however, was the stiff lace collar that extended out from the neckline of the dress. _'How is she not poking people's eyes out with that thing? And, more importantly, which would win in a battle against Misao's scarves...'_

"Marie Antoinette?" Megumi guessed, swirling the ice around in what remained of her drink.

"Anne of Austria," Tae replied. "Katsu, Sano, and I decided to go with "The Three Musketeers,"... that is, characters from the book. Well, other than the title characters; we figured there would be _plenty_ of random Musketeers running around. Katsu is Cardinal Richelieu, and I'm Anne... Sano was _supposed_ to be the Comte de Rochefort, but he apparently went and watched the movie and decided he didn't want to wear an eyepatch. So now he's a Musketeer. _Any_ Musketeer; he didn't even bother to pick one!"

"I didn't care about the eyepatch!" Sano said, coming up behind Tae. "I just didn't want to be a redshirt-wearing evil subordinate! Also, we're out of pretzels."

Tae glared daggers at him. Kaoru could empathize with her annoyance at carefully-laid costume plans going horribly awry. Sighing, she said, "Right, fine, pretzels; got it."

"Thanks, Missy! By the way, awesome costume! Marie Antoinette?"

Kaoru leveled him with a flat stare and said, "Thanks, no, and I blame you."

Sano blinked. "Huh?"

"YOUR girlfriend's scheme got me into this. So you'd better make sure to take a picture of her in that Gavroche outfit, because that is the only way to appease me."

Sano opened his mouth, but Megumi's glare stopped whatever he was going to say. "No. Pictures." she said firmly. "And, for the record, it was not merely _my_ scheme."

Sensing a certain tension in the conversation, Tae interrupted, saying, "So, Misao, where on earth did you find all of those scarves? I mean, I remember the canary-colored ones, and some of the others, but I don't remember that one with all the sequins. It looks kind of like the fabric they draped up in the balcony to make the Moulin Rouge section; very nice!"

Misao colored faintly. "Does it? I mean, I haven't been up in the balcony area. At all. So I wouldn't know if they even had pretty, sparkly, colorful fabric."

Kaoru stifled a snort. _'Well, that explains the reproducing scarves.'_ Turning to Tae, she asked, "So, your Majesty.. um.. your Highness? Your most excellently be-pearled and spiffily collaredness? Is there anything else that needs refilling?"

Tae blinked, then looked thoughtful. "No, everything is under control as far as the regular food. You can check the rest of the bowls on your way to get the pretzels out if you like." Kaoru resisted the urge to salute and managed a curtsey instead. She was fairly proud of not falling over while she did it.

'_I think I'm getting better at moving in this idiotic thing. And if I hold my fan right, I can even manage to stand and talk with people and not die of... err... a draft.'_

As she headed off to fetch the pretzels, Kaoru wondered if maybe, just maybe, if she worked on the part with the fan and kept her expression suitably formal, she could go back to her original plan of spending some time with Kenshin, as long as he was at the party anyway, where there were plenty of other people around.

'_I wanted to talk with him, right? I mean, he's here, I know he's not going to start skewering the party guests or set the place on fire... oh... right... that was me... anyway, now that I've had some time to get used to this dress, and especially after seeing what Tae stuffed herself into, there's no reason to be afraid of a little dancing and conversation in a public Halloween-party-type enviro--- gah!'_

Kaoru's thought process stuttered to a halt at the feel of the hand against her backside. For a half-second, she assumed that thinking of her particular demon had made him appear, before she registered the strong scent of alcohol wafting through the air. For a further half-second, her brain wrestled with what was actually happening.

Then she turned, very slowly, her eyes narrowed and her mouth stretched into a smile guaranteed to scare off sharks.

"First Aid kit, sir? Why, of course. It's right behind the bar."

The flushed face of the man behind her took less than a half-second to move from confusion to comprehension. Kaoru moved considerably faster.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaoru's former dance partner stood in the shadows, leaning against a wall in a way which managed to be simultaneously inconspicuous and commanding. The contents of the cup in his hand hadn't actually been sake until shortly after he took it off of the waiter's tray. His eyes scanned the room restlessly, and he gave no sign of moving when he was approached.

"Well?" he said, not bothering with pleasantries.

Kenshin grimaced slightly as he looked into his own drink for a moment. It was true there were things unsuitable for discussing in a quick phone report, but that didn't mean talking about them in person was any easier. "Master, Abbot Hirei has been dead for three months," he said softly.

"What... happened?" If there was the faintest tremor in the hand holding the glass, it was hidden behind the lace cascading from his sleeve, and Kenshin made no mention of it. One did not tell Seijuro Hiko that he had shown any such signs of emotion in public. At least not more than once.

"The _verdict_ was accidental death."

"What was the nature of this accident?" Aoshi asked, appearing noiselessly at their side.

Hiko, who had been staring into his glass, raised his eyes.

"There was a car crash," Kenshin answered. "The driver apparently swerved to miss something in the road; the police were unable to figure out exactly what. It took place out in the woods, while they were returning home; speculation is that it was some kind of large animal. The other cars in the caravan were unaffected. No witnesses saw exactly what happened."

Aoshi raised an eyebrow. "Did witnesses see anything? Anything at the scene of the accident afterwards?"

"No." Kenshin understood what Aoshi was asking and continued, saying, "There was no attack other than whatever caused the car to swerve. It ws done with a minimum of magic, nothing enough to set off any alarms there or here. Abbot Hirei was allowed to simply die from the accident."

Kenshin refrained from pointing out the many worse fates which could have befallen their old friend. It wouldn't have lessened their grief. Besides which, he knew they were as aware of the nastier possibilities as he was. Instead, he said, "Unfortunately, the Abbot's chosen successor was also killed in the accident."

"Which meant that the next abbot was elected by the monastery?" Aoshi inquired.

Kenshin nodded.

Hiko frowned. "I don't understand. Granted, only the Abbot and his successor are privileged with the deepest secrets of the shrine's treasures, but any man there with the experience and wisdom to be chosen as Abbot must have lived there long enough to have an inkling..."

"This is where things become complicated," Kenshin admitted. "A year before the Abbot died, the monastery accepted a fairly large number of new members who arrived there after their own monastery had been forced to close. Abbot Hirei had picked a member of the new group as his successor, as a sign of cooperation and the joining of the communities. Then, when both of them were killed, the other monks voted to select another former member of that community, in the spirit of their former leader's previous gesture."

"And of course none of them would have known anything," Aoshi finished. "The entire corpus of information passed down orally from Abbot to Abbot would have simply been lost." He was scowling, and his knuckles were white as he clenched his drink. Kenshin could understand how he felt. While Kenshin's ties to the monastery went back further, it was Aoshi who regularly used it as a retreat for meditation.

Hiko sighed. "And I suppose that the closing of the second monastery was the result of entirely mundane issues?"

"Mostly. There was a gradual decline; some investments went bad over the past several decades. Nothing sudden; nothing suspicious. According to their records, they were planning to auction of a select group of the minor treasures of the monastery in order to restore their finances. That was when there was a fire. The damage was... more considerable than one would have expected in a holy place. Abbot Hirei offered to accept any members of that community into his own. The rest you know."

"How does all of that lead to the Mugenjin winding up in a museum in this country?" Hiko asked, his tone and expression neatly tacking a, "you idiot," onto the end of his question.

"Tsukayama had already approached them about the possibility of their contributing several weapons of historical interest, including the Mugenjin, to the exhibit. From what I was able to piece together of their correspondence, it involved a great deal of very polite dancing around the fact that Tsukuyama was asking for the other weapons only so that he could get the Mugenjin as a centerpiece for his exhibit and Abbot Hirei was absolutely not letting the sword out of his control." Kenshin paused, then said, "To his credit, Tsukayama did not approach the new abbot. Apparently, Abbot Hirei's successor remembered what had happened to his former home and wanted to begin his tenure by securing the monastery's finances."

"Not to mention that space in a major exhibition would attract the attention of other potential donors," Aoshi noted, grimacing. Kenshin idly wondered if it was the fact that Aoshi hadn't attached significance to the developments of the past several years or the thought of the monastery being overwhelmed with tourists that caused the expression.

"A carefully laid trap," Hiko observed. "Creating a crisis and directing everyone involved to a specific solution... has Saitoh reported back in yet?"

"He is scheduled to call in another half-hour," Aoshi replied. "He's expanded his standard patrol route since the theft, and he was planning on meeting tonight with several contacts who have ties to the docks. Of course," the usually tall ninja continued, "that is assuming there aren't any more incidents with trick-or-treaters."

"I spoke to him about it yesterday, and he assured me that it would not happen again," Hiko replied, taking another drink.

"Shame to mess with tradition," Kenshin muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing, Master. Just thinking about the holiday."

"Excellent. In that case, you won't mind covering the north section of town after Saitoh reports in."

"But..."

"No."

"I was thinking..."

"I highly doubt that. And you know that this is an emergency situation; we can't afford to have both you and Shinomori spending all of your time in the same quadrant. I agreed that we could meet here; you have another half-hour. That should be enough."

Kenshin refrained from pointing out that he would have had more time with Kaoru if certain _other_ people hadn't been dancing with her.

Aoshi, looking at Kenshin's espression, said, "She will be perfectly safe here, Himura. And you've already taken every possible precaution around her car and apartment. There is no need for your concern. We can best protect the ones who are important to us by working together to defeat the larger threat."

"Twenty-eight minutes," came the reminder as Kenshin's Master strode back into the crowd, the decorations on his costume catching and winking in the light.

Kenshin glared, but took the hint, as did Aoshi. With brief nods at each other, they headed back into the crowd.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaoru glared at the boxes and bottles and assorted cans on the shelves in the storage room and wondered yet again why she had agreed to be responsible for keeping the scattered bowls of pretzels and mixed nuts refilled throughout the evening.

'_Because you knew that those two mixed nuts tending the bar were going to be too busy pouring drinks and making small talk and keeping things under control, that's why...'_ she reminded herself. It was tradition that she and Misao and Megumi took charge of the non-catered aspects of the party that Sano and Katsu wouldn't have time for. It meant that more money could go to the cause of the day rather than being spent on additional staff people. Normally, Kaoru enjoyed it, or at least didn't mind; it gave her a chance to circulate and greet people, not to mention a nifty escape from boring conversations.

Normally, however, she was not wearing a dress that was making her give serious thought to remaining hidden in the supply room for the rest of the evening, where she would only have to worry about the occasional leering spider. The red dress was conspicuous, which she was not at all used to, and still hard to move quickly in, which annoyed her. In short, the attention she was getting roused all of her kendo-trained instincts, while the outfit causing the attention prevented her from actually moving the way that she'd been trained to. It was not a combination which allowed her to relax and enjoy the party the way that she usually did. After the last encounter with a Vicomte de Valmont-wanna-be, Kaoru was about ready to throw in her fan and declare herself done.

'_What on earth were those two thinking, picking something like this?'_ she wondered. _'Well, alright, they were thinking that they didn't want me wandering around in grubby, ripped pants and a jacket that looks like it got run over several times. Which it did, actually. And I happen to think that I achieved exactly the effect I was looking for.'_

Finally locating the section of the shelves where the party-specific supplies were located, Kaoru bit her lip in consideration. It was a fine art, figuring out how to ration the supplies of the course of a long evening so that they wouldn't run out but people wouldn't feel like they weren't being fed enough.

Well, maybe not a fine art, but it took planning, concentration, and watching to make sure that Sano didn't inhale half the pretzel supply when nobody was paying attention.

'_Speaking of planning and concentration, what is the best way to get the supplies to the bowls while avoiding any dress-related inconvenience? Well, other than removing the dress. In the sense of finding something else to wear, since running around in my underwear would be the opposite of solving my problem...'_

'_What on EARTH were they thinking...I swear, this is even worse than Megumi picking out those dresses at the mall the other...'_

It was a good thing that she hadn't actually picked anything up off of the shelves yet, because she was sure she would have dropped it.

Megumi. Misao. The afternoon at the mall. The way that Kenshin had calmly slithered in and pretended to be her boyfriend, leading Megumi to pick out date-appropriate dresses which Kaoru had taken and tried on in the...

Kaoru, her heart in her throat, suddenly realized that she had inadvertently committed one of the Top Five Horror Movie Heroine Blunders. Namely, she had wandered off on her own, away from the lights and the people, when she knew perfectly well that there was a demon after her.

Granted, this particular demon wasn't after her in the traditional horror movie sense, but that didn't change the fact that she was in a small, dimly-lit room, _by herself_.

'_In storage closets, nobody can hear you scream..._' she thought. _'Stupid, stupid; after the way that he was looking at you...even if you've decided to spend time with him on your terms, in public, that look was.. it was... well, not a good look to be alone with in a dark room containing no people... ok, blush later, Kaoru; now is the time to grab the big plastic jar of pretzels and head back out there, carefully, and hope that nobody, by which I mean Kenshin, noticed that you were...'_

"Have I told you, kitten, how _very_ much I like that dress?" Kenshin's voice drawled from out of the darkness next to the door.

'_Not out there with everybody else...'_ Kaoru finished, wincing as she turned around slowly and staring at the buckles on Kenshin's shoes before she hesitantly raised her eyes to look at his face.

Almost immediatly, she wished that she'd just stuck to working out whether his footwear was historically accurate or not. His eyes burned as bright as she'd ever seen them, something predatory in their fire that made her instinctively clutch the container of pretzels closer. It was fairly useless as a weapon, but there was something almost comfortingly shield-like about having it between herself and Kenshin. Pretzel-distance... that should keep him at bay, right?

'_One door... no windows... why couldn't Sano and Katsu have decided to keep the supplies someplace else, like a big, open room with lots of windows, and an escape hatch?'_

"You know, kitten," Kenshin said, allowing his eyes to once again travel slowly over her slender form, "Seeing you like this makes me wish that I had more time away from work tonight. But I think that we've got at least five or ten minutes until we really need to get back out there with everybody else.

Kaoru blinked, her nervousness lost in a sudden rush of surprise that almost made her drop the pretzels. Surprise, and annoyance.

'_He can't possibly have just said... Five... What kind of... how can he even think that... five minutes?'_

"You listen to me, you... you... perverted..." Kaoru sputtered, "If you think that you're just going to be able to sweep in here and... and... in that... I mean, _five minutes_ and you think that I'm just going to... I mean, that that's all you... and... and... there's _no_ way that I would even _think_ of..." she trailed off, seething.

Her rant made Kenshin pause briefly, eyebrows drawn together as he attempted to parse what she was saying. Then his eyes went wide and he threw back his head and laughed, before he looked at her again with a very fanged smirk, eyes full of wicked sparks.

"Don't worry, kitten, I have _no_ intention of letting our first time take place in some storage closet," he purred as he began to remove his gloves. Kaoru found her attention caught by the slow deliberation of his movements, the precision of his hands as he pulled the gloves off, one finger at a time. She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry, as he slowly stepped forward with definite intent.

"Besides," he continued, never breaking eye contact even as he finished with one glove and went on to the second, "when it happens, believe me, I shall be sure to devote my _full _attention to you..."

The second glove had been removed, and Kaoru stared at Kenshin's hands, transfixed, as he reached her. She couldn't move—she could hardly breathe—as he brought one hand up to brush against her hair and leaned in to whisper directly into her ear, "...and that, Kaoru, is absolutely going to take much, _much _longer than a mere five minutes..."

She gasped as he began nibbling on her earlobe, delicately, sending shivers up and down her spine. His breath was warm against her neck, and her eyes closed as he began trailing light kisses down her throat. Somehow, as he was kissing her, he moved so that he was standing behind her, his body warm against hers as one arm circled her waist, behind the plastic pretzel jar that was slowly slipping from her nerveless fingers.

Kaoru barely noticed the thunk as it hit the floor. It seemed as if every part of her awareness was concentrated on where Kenshin was continuing to taste the skin at the nape of her neck, carefully brushing her hair out of the way with his other hand. The light prick of fangs, not even enough to break the skin, elicited a startled gasp from her, and she felt her knees grow weak as she leaned against him, practically feeling his heartbeat echoing through her. Kenshin tightened his arm, supporting her, murmuring lightly against her shoulder as he continued his explorations. She wasn't entirely sure what he was saying,low words of approval and praise of her appearance, of the way she felt against him, of the effect she had on him—she wasn't even sure if she would have been able to think enough to understand it if she could have heard it— but the tone was enough to cause additional shivers.

She reached one arm up, without conscious thought, letting her fingers stroke through his hair as she held him. Her other arm lay over the arm he had around her waist, and she was just starting to link her fingers with the warmth of his when he gave one final brush of his lips against the juncture of her neck and shoulder and then managed to turn her so that they were facing each other. Kaoru looked up at him with eyes that were wide and limpid, her feelings clearly visible in their sapphire depths. He smiled down at her, caressing her cheek with careful fingers. Then Kenshin leaned in and kissed along the path his fingers had marked, gentle brushes of his lips against her skin that had her leaning towards him, twining her arms around his neck. When Kenshin lifted her, she automatically tightened her hold on him so that she wouldn't lose her balance as he turned both of them so that were standing more securely in the shadows of the corner. He continued to kiss along her jawline and down her throat as he moved them, and the small part of her brain that was still capable of noticing such things appreciated his ability to to both things at the same time.

Then suddenly Kenshin was taking entirely unfair advantage of the neckline of her dress. Kaoru's eyes flew open in shock before fluttering closed again, and her fingers tightened almost convulsively where they were tangled in his hair. She bit her lip in an attempt to keep from crying out as he continued, but was unable to stop herself from gasping out his name in broken syllables when his tongue did something particularly wicked that jolted her to the core and made her dizzy with the sudden rush of heat through her veins. Time ceased to mean anything except the sound of his heartbeat, and she couldn't say how long it was until he raised his head and moved to claim her lips with his. When he finally kissed her fully, she made a pleased noise in the back of her throat and eagerly returned the kiss, needing his mouth against hers. He wrapped her in his embrace, pulling her close to his warmth as she melted against him, her hands exploring his shoulders and back.

It took a loud sqeak from the hinges of the door as it opened, then several distinctive footsteps into the room, to register through the warm haze in her mind. Kaoru jerked back from Kenshin in embarassment, but found that between his arms and the wall, she couldn't really put any distance between them. Kenshin merely stood still, continuing to keep her wrapped in his arms. Over his shoulder, she could see Sano, who had apparently lost the ridiculously plumed hat he had been sporting earlier, walking into the room and reaching up to the top shelf, retrieving several bags of tortilla chips and a small bag that he slipped into one of his pockets Then, without so much as glancing into the corner where Kaoru stood, holding her breath, Sano walked back out, carefully shutting the door behind him again.

The shock of almost having been discovered making out with Kenshin in a dark closet prevented Kaoru from speaking for several long seconds. Before she could decide exactly what she felt about that—whether she ought to be mad at Kenshin for, well, not exactly _cheating_, per se, but... well, at any rate, she wasn't sure if she should be mad at _him_ for starting it, or be angry with Sano for interrupting.

She was saved from having to decide by Kenshin reaching up to run one finger down the smoothness of her cheek again as he commented, "Much as I hate to thank Sano for something like that, we really shouldn't stay in here any longer." Stepping back and giving her a courteous, courtly bow, he grinned, declaring "After all, Milady, I would hate to miss the opportunity to dance with you. Besides," and here he stood up again and leaned in, brushing his lips against her cheek as his voice took on that deeper, purring quality again, "if we're back here any longer, kitten, I refuse to be held accountable for my behavior. You're just too delicious to leave alone."

Kaoru gaped at him as he he backed up again and tucked her arm quite firmly into his. Kaoru took several steps with him out of habit before she collected her wayward thoughts enough to remember the reason she'd come into the storage closet in the first place.

Stopping mid-step, she tried to tug her arm away from Kenshin. When he resisted, she glared and quite firmly declared, "Pretzels!" At his confused blink, she pointed her free hand at the plastic tub on the floor and said, "I came in here to get those; I refuse to walk back out and have to explain why I have failed in my mission! I don't care if it is Halloween, nobody is going to believe that it's an evil demon's fault they are lacking snack food!"

Kenshin muttered something under his breath that sounded like a slightly huffy, "'m'not _evil_," but she ignored him in favor of retrieving the container and then marching back out the door. He put an arm around her waist and followed her outside, staying by her side as she went over to the bar and refilled the bowls there. Kaoru had to admit that there was at least one benefit to Kenshin's presence; namely, all of a sudden, there were no more leering glances directed at her—or rather, her bodice—no ridiculous pick-up lines, and no attempts to drag her out to the dance floor and ogle her. Well, except for the attempt being made by Kenshin himself.

She was just trying to figure out the best way to navigate the rest of the room and take care of the rest of the bowls when Megumi appeared at her shoulder. Kaoru jumped at her cousin's sudden appearance, accidentally elbowing Kenshin in the ribs.

"Oops! Sorry!" she exclaimed, before frowning slightly and correcting, "I mean, not that you didn't deserve it, but it wasn't on purpose. This time." Then, turning to her cousin, she said, "Sorry, Megumi. you are really hard to spot when you're dressed all... um... I mean, normally, you're so... er.."

Finding no good way to end that train of thought, Kaoru merely stopped and regrouped. "Um... pretzel?" she offerred weakly, holding out a bowl by means of a peace offering. To her great credit, Megumi managed a smile that was at least somewhat sincere as she accepted. After swallowing, her cousin said, "Actually, I came over to get the container from you so that I could finish filling the rest of the bowls." With a grin that was much closer to her usual fox-like expression, she continued, "I'm _sure_ that the two of you must have much _better_ things to do than take care of the snacks."

Kaoru felt her cheeks burning, but before she could come up with a suitable response, Megumi had left, one of her elegant, trilling laughs echoing over her shoulder. It took her another few seconds before she remembered that it was mostly Megumi's fault that she had spent much of the evening being accosted, ogled, and/or molested.

"Hey! Hey, get _back_ here, you..." she started, but before she could get any further, Kenshin had his arm firmly around her waist and was leading her towards the dance floor. She wriggled slightly in his hold and glared at Megumi's retreating form, muttering, "_Entirely_ her fault..."

It didn't help that she just _knew_ Kenshin's expression was another one of his smug grins. Unfortunately, since he seemed to have figured out how to stand so that she couldn't elbow him in the ribs, Kaoru had to content herself with more muttering as they reached the edge of the dance floor. She opened her mouth to say something about not really wanting to dance when she still had so many questions to ask him, and questions seemed much safer than dancing at the moment —in fact, she was trying to figure out the best way to suggest that she had reached some sort of limit to the number of times she could dance in the costume which had been inflicted on her.

Ok, fine, which she had inflicted on herself.

However, before Kaoru could formulate the sentence, Kenshin had moved to stand in front of her as the music shifted to something slow and romantic. She blinked at him as he gave her an exquisitely courtly bow and offered her his hand to lead her onto the floor. Feeling like a flock of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach, Kaoru reached out one hand and hesitantly put it in Kenshin's. His fingers closed warmly around hers, and he smoothly tugged her forwards and into his arms, one going around her waist and the other holding her hand in a classical dance position.

"Um..." Kaoru started nervously, "I'm not really... I mean, I haven't.. well, ok, but not in a while, since gym class back in.. um... a while ago."

"_Dammit! Stupid wrong-fork-using guilty feelings! High school! You can SAY high school, Kaoru, without necessarily adding "when I repeatedly stabbed you to death"... he knows perfectly well that you killed him, and if he's not... I mean, if it doesn't bother the one who was actually... oh, various hells..."_

She was tempted to thunk her head against the nearest available surface, but since the nearest available surface was, in fact, Kenshin's shoulder, she ruthlessly stifled the instinct. Giving no sign that he's noticed her nervousness, or the unspoken reasons for it, Kenshin smiled at her and said, "You were fine before, remember? Just relax and follow my lead and don't worry about it."

'_Oh.. that's right... I was dancing with that man earlier, and managed not to inflict horrible damage on anybody... In fact, it was fun. Rats.'_ The thought that that meant her nerves now couldn't really be blamed on the dancing itself popped up suddenly, but she refused to pay any attention to it. Instead, she carefully placed her other hand on Kenshin's shoulder and tried to pay attention to the music and where her feet were. There was a bit of confusion over the latter for a minute as she tried to decide whether that meant she was trying to avoid Kenshin's feet or step on them. Either way, he seemed quite adept at keeping out of her way, so she gave up trying to figure it out and concentrated on listening to the music and moving along with it.

Kenshin moved with smooth precision; unsurprising, she thought, considering his skills as a fighter. Once they had been dancing for about half a song, he said, "You look especially beautiful tonight, kitten. I like what you've done with your hair."

"It wasn't _my_ idea," she grumbled, "_I_ was perfectly happy to go as Gavroche, but Misao and Megumi just _had_ to be clever about the costumes."

At that, he laughed, before he asked "Is _that_ why Megumi is wearing... I see. However, honesty compells me to inform you that you would have looked beautiful in anything you chose to wear."

She shot him a skeptical look, but the expression in his violet eyes was one of complete sincerity. Raising one eyebrow, Kaoru remarked, "Flatterer. You know perfectly well that I'm not.. that this isn't the way that I usually look. It's just dress-up."

"You are beautiful," Kenshin repeated, leaning in so that his breath ghosted warmly across her ear, "no matter what. Do you really think that it matters to me what you're wearing? When I look at you... your spirit shines so brightly in this world, with such courage and grace; how could I not... " His exhalation was almost a sigh, and when he spoke again, his tone was lighter. "One of these days, kitten, I will figure out how to get you to take a compliment gracefully."

Kaoru felt her heart kick in her chest at his words. She tried to find the words to counter what he had just said, to point out the flaws in his reasoning, but they drifted out of her reach like falling leaves. The music and the rhythm of their dancing as they moved with each other, the warmth of Kenshin's body against hers, the way that his scent surrounded her... all of it made it difficult for her to find any words at all, especially since Kenshin, once he had leaned in, felt no need to return to his former distance. Instead, he lingered where he could press his nose against her hair, adjusting his arms so that he was holding her even closer.

It was actually taking a great deal of effort on Kenshin's part to keep his movements slow, matching with the speed of the music and their dancing. The dress was beautiful; Kaoru looked spectacular, and he knew that the image of her tonight was going to remain burned in his memory. He wanted to pull Kaoru as close as he could, to wrap his arms around her to feel her heartbeat echoing through him. Actually, he thought to himself with a rueful smile, what he really wanted was to get Kaoru someplace where he could make sure that damned boning wasn't between him and the feel of her body against him. In the meantime, however, he could content himself with moving so that his arms were both around her waist, taking things slowly, so that by the end of the next song, Kaoru's arms were up around his neck and he was holding her flush against him. He didn't say anything, merely enjoying the closeness, letting the scent of jasmine wrap around him, wondering if Kaoru was even aware of the contented sigh she gave as she rested her head against his shoulder.

The pleasant, lingering warmth fluttering in Kaoru's stomach spread throughout her veins as she leaned against Kenshin, feeling the way his muscles moved as they danced. She was impressed that he was still managing to keep up a rhythm, rather than the mindless swaying she normally associated with slow-dancing at parties or nightclubs.

'_This... this is... nice...'_ she thought hazily. "Nice" wasn't exactly the word that she meant, but she couldn't seem to think of anything more appropriate, not when the music was fading into the background behind Kenshin's heartbeat and the rhythm of his breathing. She was so relaxed that it took her several long seconds to notice that one of Kenshin's hands was perilously close to wandering past the small of her back. When she did realize, she jumped in startlement and squeaked before attempting to pull back and get leverage to smack him. Kenshin's only response was to tighten his arms so that she remained pressed up against him, and murmur something low and indistinguishable against her ear, finishing with a nip at her earlobe that almost made her squeak again. Apparently seeing no need to pull back, he continued to lean against her, his breath tickling the hairs on the back of her neck.

"_Kenshin_!' Kaoru hissed at him, indignant, "If you don't move your hand this min-eep! _Remove!_ I meant _remove_ your hand from where it is, immediately, then..."

Before she could even finish uttering her threat, let alone carrying it out, there was a sudden acoustic screech that had her jumping against Kenshin again and wincing against his suitcoat.

"Um... Everybody?" Sano's voice sounded oddly distorted over the speakers of the club, even more so because it took Katsu several seconds to figure out how to turn the music off and get rid of the feedback problems. Once it seemed to have been taken care of, Sano glanced over at his partner for a nod indicating that it was alright to continue speaking.

Clearing his throat, he said, "OK, well, I'd like to welcome everybody to our annual Halloween charity bash thing... it's great to see so many people here, having a good time, and, um, dressing up according to the theme. And let's have a big hand for Katsu, who picked the theme out this year!"

Pausing to let the applause, hollars, and occasional cat-call die down, Sano grinned and continued. "Anyway, we're all glad you're here, helping to raise money for a darned good cause, the Pediatric Oncology Unit at North General. For those of you who feel like giving a little extra, there's a donation box over by the bar. For those of you who'd rather donate by buying more drinks, there's a bar over by the donation box. Remember, all proceeds go to a terrific cause."

Gesturing, Sano continued, "As always, there are a lot of people to thank for putting all of this together... first off, Misao Makimachi and Kaoru Kamiya, for the work they put into the decorations. And, of course, Tae and the rest of the folks over at the Akabeko for the appetizer platters." Kaoru blushed slightly as the people around her turned to give her grins and thumbs-up signs. Kenshin squeezed her shoulders and dropped a light kiss against her hair, murmuring something complimentary about her decorating abilities.

Sano ran a hand through his hair before he kept going with his speech, "Of course.. well, none of this would be happening without one very special lady, a lady whose dedication to her job is what inspired this, Dr. Megumi Takani! Let's give her a big hand!" As he pointed out into the crowd, the spotlight moved to hit Megumi where she was standing next to Tae.

From where she was standing, Kaoru could see Megumi's expression turn from delight at the turn-out to slightly panicked shock as everybody's attention was directed towards her. Knowing her cousin as well as she did, Kaoru knew that it wasn't the attention that was the problem; it was the fact that she was getting that attention while looking like she'd last had a bath and change of clothes in nineteenth-century France—especially when Tae was so dressed up. Before Megumi had a chance to react, Sano had lept down from the stage and grasped her arm, dragging her back up into the spotlight at the front of the room. He didn't let go of her hand once he got there; instead, he turned back to the assembled crowd.

"The first time I met her," Sano reminisced, "was late one night in the Emergency Room, when some friends brought me in for a busted hand and a concussion. I hadn't wanted to go to the hospital; hell, I didn't even notice the concussion..."

Ignoring the cries of, "Yeah, you wouldn't, rooster brain!" he kept going. "Anyway, she patched me up, gave me good advice—which I ignored—and sent me on home. The next time we met was the week after that, when I messed up the cast on my hand." Looking slightly embarassed, Sano remarked, "Her advice that time was... umm.. much more direct, something I'm sure you guys are familiar with."

"Next time, I brought flowers... which she tossed out in the examining room after threatening me with all sorts of invasive tests that weren't really related to my hand. So, I figured she liked me."

"Oh, dear; she's going to kill him... she's going to chop him up into little bits and stomp on them, and we're going to be dealing with dismembered rooster as well as the rest of the clean-up...' Kaoru murmured as she looked at her cousin's darkening expression.

Kenshin's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

"Finally, I bribed Kaoru to spill about Megumi's favorite coffee, and whether she preferred bagels or muffins, and once I'd brought her breakfast a couple of times, I managed to get her to agree to go out with me so that I would stop bothering her at work."

"... and now I won't have to worry about rooster clean-up, because she's going to kill _me_. And I can't even climb out windows in this stupid dress." Kaoru sighed a deep sigh of resignation to an unpleasant fate. "Well, Kenshin, it's been nice knowing you; try to stay out of the way of the upcoming carnage, and tell my family I was thinking of them in my final moments..."

"Don't worry, kitten; she'll have to go through me first."

"You've never seen Megumi when she's really mad, have you? Flee; save yourself; live long and prosper; don't let the door hit you on the way out... Ack, she's looking over here, keep smiling or she'll kill us all..."

This time, Kenshin was forced to disguise his laugh as a cough and then fight to keep his expression under control. Even though he knew she wasn't being _completely_ serious.. he hoped... he knew Kaoru and her family well enough to know that it wasn't a totally misplaced fear.

Sano was reminiscing about his first real date with Megumi, and she looked like the only thing keeping her from beating him over the head with a shoe was the presence of other people, many of whom she was counting on for future donations. When Sano stepped back, taking her other hand in his as well, she blinked at him.

"This is for the woman who has always believed in me, even when she was throwing heavy objects... the woman whose dedication to her patients, to making the world a better place, has been an inspiration to everybody around her... I can't imagine my life without her, and I sure as hell don't want to ever try."

He took a deep breath as he knelt in front of her, letting go to pull a small velvet box out of his pocket and open it. "Meg, I love you. Will you marry me?"

For a moment, there was stunned silence as everybody in the club registered Sano's words. Megumi's eyes had widened to the size of saucers, and her jaw had dropped; in fact, it wasn't entirely clear whether she was actually breathing or not.

Then everybody started talking at once, cheering and clapping. Kaoru let out an excited squeal Kenshin suspected of breaking the sound barrier and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him enthusiastically on the cheek before turning to face the stage and clapping enthusiastically.

Megumi blinked, started to say something several times, then finally managed to nod as she said, "Y... yes? I mean..." She let out an audible sniffing noise before she exclaimed, "Yes! YES!" and flung herself at Sano as he stood back up. He made a relieved noise and spun her around before kissing her passionately, dipping her briefly before he pulled her back up. Flashbulbs went off; Kaoru wasn't sure who other than Katsu was taking pictures, but it seemed like there were going to be many choices for the hospital website's report on the annual party.

When he finally let go, to loud cheers and wolf whistles, Megumi sniffled and smacked him on the shoulder. Sano caught her hand and brought it up to kiss it before he put the ring on it. Kaoru couldn't really see the details of the stone or the setting from where she was standing, but she could tell that it was impressively large and sparkly. Megumi looked at it, still starry-eyed, until the sight of her hands made her remember exactly what she was wearing. She blanched visibly, even under the ashes and dirt decorating her face, and Kaoru tried to keep from laughing.

"Oh, dear," she said, "I think Megumi just figured out that her dream proposal was.. umm.. not exactly as she had imagined it."

"She gave her consent, though; that's the important thing," Kenshin noted. "I mean, he asked and she said yes."

"Of course she said yes! And of course she's going to marry him; that's not the issue. It's just that, well, now her children and grandchildren will have pictures of Megumi getting proposed in an outfit that no amount of Photoshopping can really save from looking... umm... well, like something her scruffy cousin would pick out to wear at Halloween."

Whatever Kenshin was going to say was cut off by the arrival of Misao, who was waving her arms (and the attached scarves) frenetically and making loud, excited squeals bordering on hypersonic and bouncing on her feet as she tried to formulate the questions she wanted to ask. With her years of interpreting Misao-speak, Kaoru was able to interject appropriate answers.

"Yes, Misao— she was completely surprised; Sano did a really good job of keeping it a... no, I had no... yes, the ring did look spectacular... yes, she probably will try to kill the photographers... yes, this might be the best Halloween ever... sweetie, don't forget that you need to breathe, ok?"

Misao finally stoppped, contenting herself with a final squeal and giggle. "I just had to come over for a sec before I go back to take over the D.J. gig from Katsu. He's got to head back to the bar for the end of the party."

With that, she spun around, scarves flaring, and headed over to the music table.

"Misao in charge of music... the mind boggles... and then runs away," Kaoru said as the Pussycat Dolls started blasting from every speaker. "I guess that will help serve as notice that the party is coming to an end, and everybody should flee." Turning to face Kenshin, she bit her lip hesitantly. "Umm.. the music is probably going to be on the loud side.. but.. um.. do you want to try to dance to it? Together, I mean. With each other. Um."

Kenshin leaned forward and kissed her, lightly, before running a hand down her cheek. "Thank you, kitten. It means more than you know that you asked... unfortunately,' he sighed, "I have to get back to work."

"Anything in particular, or just preventative?" Kaoru queried. '_Yahiko is out with Yutaro... what if...'_

Reading her expression, Kenshin said quietly, "Don't worry; nothing is after your brother. It's mostly about the theft at the museum; I have some alleys I need to skulk around in looking for clues and tracking down leads. Besides, Halloween is always a time when an eye needs to be kept on things. You never know when a group of idiots is going to try to summon the spirit of Alastair Crowley or some fool thing. Before I go, though..." Kenshin paused, smoothly slipping out of his jacket and placing it around Kaoru's shoulder. "This should help keep you warm, and make sure you don't run into any more problems with idiots."

He wrapped the jacket around her and then pulled her close to kiss her again, tenderly, holding his forehead against hers for a long breath before he pulled back. "Thank you for this evening," Kenshin said, "I look forward to taking you dancing again, properly, some evening."

The expression in his eyes as he gave her another courtly bow made it clear that he didn't want to be leaving. Kaoru watched him duck past a Madam Defarge who was just starting to wave her knitting needles in time to the music, and then around one of the bar's pillars. He didn't appear on the other side.

Kaoru watched the space where Kenshin had been for several long moments, thinking. _'He really is dedicated to his job,'_ she thought _'I mean... he didn't try to drag me back into the storage closet, or up to the balcony, and he didn't even keep me in the storage closet until he had to leave, because he wanted to be sure to dance with me. And it was fun. Ok, not as useful as asking him questions, except... well, the fact that he wanted to stay, but that going off and protecting people from demon-related incidents and their own idiocies was something he felt he had to do... that says something.'_

And it did. Between finding out the truth about Kenshin's work, and seeing him forego the party so that he could go back out to do his job, Kaoru was feeling slightly dizzy from the change in perspective. Or possibly that was the corset.

'_I... like him. He's not just playing at being nice, or at liking me, or... or... being attracted to me because I'm part of some nefarious and convoluted scheme. He really... I mean, this whole time... And... and I think I really, really like him.'_

Kaoru gulped.

'_Wow.'_

She was still nervous about poking her feelings more deeply, of trying to figure out exactly what their boundaries were, or where they might be heading, and the thought of tracking down Kenshin to demand that he explain what he had meant on the dance floor, or give her a neatly-typed and cross-indexed list of what it was about her that had made him feel.. however he felt... still made her feel like there was a whole flock of seasonally-appropriate bats in her stomach. But, as she stood there, staring past the crowds in the bar, Kaoru found her mouth kicking up in an irrepressible, slightly giddy smile, with one thought percolating up through the stillness...

'_Waitaminute... WHAT theft at the museum?'_

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"I _still_ say we should have kicked all those Dickens folks out."

"Sheesh, Katsu, give it a rest. It's nineteenth-century; it was set in France; that should be close enough."

Katsu muttered something as he continued to wipe down the bar. Kaoru rolled her eyes and kept on helping Tae pack up the appetizers.

"How much longer are you going to take over there, Your Eminence? I want to get over to the dojo before Dad goes to bed."

"Never fear, my lady! Amongst my cleaning arsenal are surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency..."

"And a nifty red uniform?"

"Exactly!"

Since Megumi was still alternating between a kind of dewy-eyed daze over Sano's proposal and near-incandescent fury that he had asked her to marry him while she was wearing rags and covered in dirt, Misao and Kaoru declared her to be exempt from cleaning duties.

As Misao put it, one Halloween where Sano almost ended up hanging from the bar sign by his underwear was really more than enough.

Instead, they had sent her home—or, rather, they had sent her to Sano's apartment, which he had apparently secretly been turning into what Katsu referred to as "a love nest which would make your average Turkish harem quarters blush." The rest of them were helping with clean-up. Misao, who had changed back into street clothes, was roaming the floor with large trash bags. Tae and Kaoru had been declared exempt from the potentially messy task of rounding up half-empty glasses and paper plates on the grounds that their costumes were too ornate to risk around spills and too complicated to wriggle out of. Besides which, everybody had pointed out that Kaoru's father deserved to see just how resplendent his Kenjutsu princess could look. After Misao had threatened to call him and ask him what _he_ thought, Kaoru had stopped protesting and agreed to stick to light clean-up.

"Thanks, guys!" Katsu said as Kaoru and Tae finished packing up the food. "We're closed tomorrow, so you don't need to worry about taking the decorations down or anything. I figure that since we've stowed the perishables in the fridge and taken care of the clutter, I can get the first load of glasses into the dishwasher and then we can all go home."

Tae put the last of the containers into a cooler and said, "Here, Katsu; let me give you a hand with that. Kaoru, you should probably take off if you still want to catch your dad; here, take a cooler with you; I'm sure he and Yahiko will appreciate the leftovers. Misao, you might as well take this other cooler. You guys can be proud; this was a great party, and I know Megumi will be happy with the amount of money raised."

Katsu grinned "I don't think the money was her best take of the evening, though."

"True..." Tae's expression matched his. "I'll start planning wedding cake designs if you start coming up with cocktail recipes!"

"Deal! Assuming she doesn't kill him once she sees the pictures."

Laughing at her friends, present and absent, Kaoru picked up the cooler, her bag, and Kenshin's coat, which she had taken off once the guests had left.

"Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good night!" she said, waving as she headed out to her car.

'_That was a great party, overall,'_ Kaoru thought happily to herself, unlocking the door and putting the cooler and jacket into the back seat. _'Of course, I'm still not sure that I can drive while wearing this skirt, but I'm game to try...'_

It was actually less difficult than she had feared; the fact that there wasn't much traffic on the streets helped considerably. Kaoru hummed to herself as she drove along.

'_Dad is really going to like this dress... which will naturally lead to questions about why I'm wearing it, in between raids on the Pocky leftovers... which will obviously lead me to blame Misao and Megumi for coming up with such a hare-brained scheme... which will logically lead to an excellent opening for me to talk about the very specific red-headed reason why THIS was the year they picked for their schemes... Oh, boy. Or, oh, demon. Who I suppose I should at least mention to Dad at this point, since I've learned that he's not all evil, and since Yahiko already knows more than he should, and since...'_ Kaoru took a deep breath.

'_Since I've decided that yes, I like him, and yes, he likes me for real, and this has become... well, something. An actual thing. A thing I don't quite have figured out yet, but that's ok. I think. Ok, first things first... get home, show Dad the dress, hope he doesn't have a heart attack, change into something more comfortable, raid the Pocky, then broach the subject of boys. And hope that Dad doesn't decide to invite him over to dinner. At least not when he's going to be cooking.'_

As she pulled up into the driveway, Kaoru could see that her Dad had turned off the house lights already. She made a face; she really hadn't wanted to wake him up, especially not when she was worried she looked more like some eighteenth-century spectre than his darling daughter. Heading up the steps, she was just deciding that her best plan involved a lot of loud calling out turning on lights once she was in the living room and when she looked over across courtyard to the training hall.

Kaoru blinked.

One of the shoji doors looked like it had been torn halfway off its hinges, and there was a large hole through the rice paper, through which she could see the splintered sticks of the frame.

'_What the... oh, I'm going to kill those kids, they KNOW better than to throw things at the door... dammit, we just had those repaired last year, and...'_

As she hitched up her skirts and headed over to take a closer look, fulminating under her breath the whole time, Kaoru suddenly realized that there was something about the quiet courtyard that wasn't quite right.

The dark in the courtyard was a sharp contrast against the light patches of moonlight, and even the normal insect noises had stilled. She couldn't even hear the sounds the old building made in the wind, and she swallowed around a throat gone suddenly dry. As she got closer, she could see that the lightbulbs in the lamps around the courtyard had been shattered, and small shards of glass glittered faintly.

'_This isn't right... this isn't right... there's something...'_

Every step across the courtyard towards the gaping hole in the training hall door seemed harder, as if the shadows were clutching at her ankles.

Kaoru suddenly felt an accute need to have a weapon in her hand.

And the closest weapons were in the training hall, right?

Which was another reason to pick one foot up, then the other, no matter how much the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, no matter how much the faint scent teasing her nose was telling her to run and not look back and shake her father awake and get him to tell her that it had just been some stupid kids, some stupid Halloween prank which he had already dealt with, and that she would have a new group of idiots to beat some sense into tomorrow once they'd finished repairs.

One step forward.

She'd reached the bottom of the stairs, stepping carefully around bits of debris, holding her skirts up out of pure habit.

Another step. And another.

The door frame was jagged and splintered and dark, and Kaoru had to be extra careful not to cut herself as she wiggled it sideways enough to get through.

The air was cold, but it felt too thick to breath, and she had to make a conscious effort, in and then back out, biting her lip to stifle a faint whimpering noise at the smell her brain was balking at identifying. She didn't want to make any noise, at least not until she had a weapon in her hand and could defend herself against whatever had...

... had scattered the neatly-organized racks of bokken and shinai along the walls, leaving broken pieces strewn haphazardly...

... against whatever had left the dojo floor stained and spattered with a color that could never, _ever_ have been paint, no matter how dark it looked in the moonlight...

... against whatever had...

...whatever had...

Kaoru felt her heart stop, her breath stop, _everything_ stop at the sight of the figure laying carelessly sprawled in the middle of that floor, those stains...

"Dad? ... DAD!"

She didn't even register moving from her frozen state, didn't register the feel of the floor against her knees as she fell heavily beside him, didn't register anything except cold and the scent of bood and her own voice, screaming over and over again to the uncaring dark.

"_DAAAAD!"_

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Chapter: Late-night vigils, doctors, and endless waiting... Kaoru has never liked hospitals...

Author's Note: Umm.. hey, look, I'm not dead (looks at how this chapter ended) Yet... (Author sets up protective camoflauge and bomb shelters) First of all, I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter put together; I currently have some very major projects going on, including several which involved a LOT of travel for a period of a couple of months. Ergo, my dropping off the face of the fanfic planet. I have the next several chapters started, and my schedule should be setting down at least in terms of becoming more regular, which is good news. In other news, I now have twice as many other authors living in-house, ready to poke me with sporks if I fail to update. Yay? Thank you to everybody who reviewed! In the interest of finally getting this posted, and also because reviewer responses aren't allowed on ffnet anymore, I am going to try to put together reviewer responses and post them on my livejournal (I'll put up a link once I have it finished). I really appreciate all of the reviews, and all the comments and feedback people have had; thank you, everybody! Also, in case anybody is interested, Tae's costume description was based on the portrait of Anne of Austria by Peter Paul Rubens, which can be found over at Wikipedia (just search for it, or put the correct characters in for the words in parentheses in the following: http(colon)/en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Image(colon)Anne(underscore)d(underscore)autriche(dot)jpg )

In this chapter I don't own: Various things Kaoru quotes, including Disney's "Aladdin," the original "Star Trek," and "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Nineteenth-century works of literature which I also don't own include: "The Three Musketeers," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Dangerous Liasons" (which is technically from 1782, but apparently wanted to be used anyway), "Tale of Two Cities." Other works of literature which I don't own include Monty Python's "Spanish Inquisition" sketch (which I bet people weren't expecting!), or the Halloween plotline of last year's 'Scary Go Round" (couldn't resist a small shout-out, though).

I do, however, own Pocky! Bwa ha ha!


	34. Interlude With White Coats

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kenshingumi; all you lawyers, please don't sue me. And all you readers please take note: I don't own anything I quote.

General Notes: Hmm... we seem to have gotten a spiffy new ratings system. I will accept the assigned rating for now (it seems to be the new PG-13), but might have some individual chapters that get rated higher for things.

Other notes: AU, which means that OOCness will jump up and down and wave its arms on occasion (although I'm trying to keep it minimal). Also, there are going to be spoilers, in the sense of riffs on or references to things in the anime and manga.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Interlude, With White Coats

* * *

_beep... beep... beep... beep_

Even from her position in the hallway waiting area outside of the doors leading to where the doctors were working feverishly, Kaoru could faintly hear the noise of the operating room machines. Every so often, a white-coated figure would rush past or back out again, and she would catch fragments of sentences, sharp and disconnected.

Underneath it all, the machine keeping track of her father's heartbeat kept going with a monotonous rhythm that Kaoru struggled to find comforting. The beeps meant that her father's heart was still going. The beeps meant that, whatever else was going on, at least _that _was one nightmare she wasn't going through.

It was terribly tempting to just curl up in the chair and close her eyes, but Kaoru held herself rigid. She didn't want any of the hospital staff to come over and ask her if she was alright, or attempt to give her more hospital cafeteria coffee. It was an indication of her mental state that she'd drunk half a cup before realizing what she'd been handed, and then hadn't been able to think of anything better to do with the rest of it than dump it out into a convenient planter.

She was pretty sure that the ficus tree was fake, anyway.

Her suspicion that it was now looking slightly droopy and that some of the leaves were decidedly crinklier was something she was not examining too closely.

Besides the lack of privacy, Kaoru knew that it was only a matter of time before her friends showed up. Her friends... and her little brother.

'_I have to be strong for Yahiko... Yahiko shouldn't have to feel like he needs to take care of me as well as worrying about Dad! That's not fair to him.'_

The atmosphere of the hospital was stifling her; it seemed like the beeping of the machines kept getting more and more intrusive. Kaoru fought down the urge to bolt; she would not leave her father alone, and she didn't want everybody to worry about her. Besides, the doctors would be coming back once they had finished examining the X-rays, and she wanted to know what they were going to say.

She didn't know how long it was until she heard the elevator door open, quietly, and soft footfalls coming down the hallway. Looking away from the wall, she was unsurprised to see Kenshin, his violet eyes filled with concern, walking towards her. Without saying a word, he knelt in front of the chair she was sitting in and brushed her bangs away from her face carefully before he took both of her hands in his.

"Your hands are cold," Kenshin murmured, holding them carefully, as if he was afraid she'd break. Somebody had found hospital scrubs—at least, he assumed they were scrubs—for her to wear instead of the fancy Halloween dress from the party, but her hair was still elaborately curled, and the remnants of make-up around her eyes made them appear hollow and haunted.

"Kaoru... are you alright?"

"I'm fine... I didn't get there until... it was after whatever happened to Dad. Nothing happened to me."

"Kaoru..." Kenshin said softly, "That's not what I meant. Are _you _alright?"

She looked at him, and he could see the faintly lost expression in her eyes for a brief second before she got herself back under control. Kaoru's eyes flicked briefly to the door at the end of the hallway as another nurse rushed in with a tray of instruments before she replied, "Thank you... I'm just waiting for everybody else to get here..."

Trailing off, she looked down to where their hands were joined and realized that there was still blood around her nails. There was still blood...

Kaoru went tense, staring. "I... I should wash my hands before they get here," she blurted, moving to stand up. Kenshin stood with her, a single fluid movement, and refused to let go.

"Kenshin... I need to..."

"Kaoru, it's going to be ok," Kenshin said. She could almost see the desire to take her into his arms in his eyes, and she took an infinitesimal step backwards, still stiff and tense. Kenshin opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could utter a word, Megumi and Misao rounded the corner, with Sano close behind them.

Kaoru pulled back with a sudden motion that was completed before the other three were fully in the little waiting area. Kenshin allowed it, letting her hands go as she moved. She had barely managed to stand back, away from him, when Misao hit her with a hug. To the girl's credit, she didn't tackle Kaoru with her usual force. Instead, she put her arms around Kaoru's shoulders for a brief moment before she also stepped back, her expression speaking volumes about how concerned she was. Megumi hugged Kaoru as well, before saying, "I'm going to go ask for an update. I'll be right back, ok?"

"But, Megumi—that's the operating area! Only doctors can... oh, right. Sorry." Kaoru flushed slightly, embarassed at her gaffe.

However, rather than delivering one of her usual cutting remarks, Megumi just repeated, "I'll be right back."

Kaoru watched her cousin go and swallowed, then blinked as she realized Misao had been saying something. "What?"

"I said, we brought coffee. Sano has it. If you want it. It's in a thermos, so it's not going to get cold, if you don't want it. I mean, if you want it later instead of now. Because, um, the vending machine coffee in hospitals is only good for stripping grease off of bolts. Well, according to Sano, and if _he_ thinks that the coffee is awful, you can imagine what it tastes like to normal people."

"Hey!" Sano protested, putting the thermos down. "There's nothing wrong with my whatjamacalit… um… palate! Nothing wrong with my palate."

Before Misao could respond, Kenshin stepped in, saying, "Thank you for the coffee. I'm sure it will be very good."

Misao blinked at Kenshin, suddenly seeming to register his presence for the first time.

"Aoshi said to call him as soon as you get a chance," she told him. "He said that it wasn't urgent, but, you know, as soon as you can."

Kenshin nodded. He supposed that he wasn't surprised; knowing Aoshi, he was taking any attack on Kaoru's family members as a personal challenge to his security skills. By the time Kenshin called, Aoshi would probably have performed a complete sweep of Kaoru's apartment building, as well as the dojo, the club, and anyplace else he felt was necessary or relevant.

Kenshin also knew that "as soon as you can" was essentially code for "Take care of everything at the hospital first and don't bother me until you're ready to pay complete attention to my report."

Rejoining the rest of the group, Megumi said, "Ok. Did the doctors give you any specific information yet, any diagnosis? Did they tell you what they were going to be doing?"

"Um... " Kaoru said, trying to collect her thoughts. "I... they... took X-rays... they have to set his leg... they're thinking they have to put pins in... and... there were stitches... they did that already... and... I think... there was something about skull pressure, or brain pressure, or something... they did something... they were thinking they might need to do something... I don't know..."

Truth be told, Kaoru had only half been listening to what the doctors had said, her mind replaying the scene in the dojo over and over and over again during the ride in the ambulance. Then she had sat and waited, numbly, for everything to be finished. When she'd gotten to the hospital, she'd answered the questions about insurance and family policies mechanically, twisting her hands over and over again in the fabric of her dress. It had taken the nurses ten minutes to realize that the darker splotches staining Kaoru's skirt weren't part of the normal fabric, and another ten minutes for them to find her something else to wear.

"Ok," Megumi said again, her professional demeanor clearly in place. "That's fairly normal. They are probably going to be in surgery for another couple of hours; they'll want to make sure the bone is set absolutely correctly. He seems to be stable, and his pulse is very regular. That's good. It's very important, especially in these early stages of a head injury. They should be sending somebody soon to give you more details. We can go wait in the lounge, ok? I mean the upstairs doctor's lounge, not the one with the horribly tacky plastic chairs."

At that, Kaoru focused on her cousin, blinking, suddenly putting pieces together, "Megumi… you were… I'm sorry; you and Sano, you were supposed to be home, and…"

Her cousin shushed her and said firmly, "It's alright, Kaoru. We hadn't even gotten back to the apartment yet. We stopped to get coffee and donuts at that diner over on Third, and we were just on our way out when you called."

"Oh…" Kaoru murmured, "That's good." Her voice sounded slightly lost, as if she knew that she should say something in response to her cousin, but wasn't sure what. Kenshin didn't blame her.

"What's happening with Yahiko?" Misao asked as they headed down the hall and into the elevator.

"Kid's probably asleep… or, you know, bouncing off of the walls after eating his weight in Halloween candy. I'll go get him in the morning, ok, Missy?" Sano said. "I can just bring him straight here if you want me to. Club's closed tomorrow anyway."

"Yutaro said they'd bring him over tonight… I thought it was important… I mean, Yutaro's father said it was alright for Yahiko to just sleep over there and wait until I knew more, but I didn't want to have to suddenly tell him in the morning, especially if… if Dad…."

"He's not going to die," Misao said determinedly. "He's as stubborn as you are! He's not going to let some idiot Halloween trick-or-treat prank attempt gone horribly wrong… because, you know, this was probably just teenagers trying to vandalize things again, and he was still there, and… I mean… it'll be fine; he's going to be fine. All you Kamiyas are stubborn as rocks. Umm."

Kaoru almost smiled at Misao's tone, hiding a sudden sniffle.

The upstairs lounge was indeed more comfortable, with a tiny kitchen area and a set of couches and chairs grouped around a low table covered with magazines and a remote for the small television in the corner. Sano immediately claimed the couch, sprawling across it and stretching out. Kenshin put the coffee thermos down next to the microwave and started hunting through the cupboards for usable cups.

"Try the dishwasher," Megumi advised. "Nobody ever ends up having the time to put anything back into the cupboard; it just goes from the sink to the dishwasher and back again. It's worse than college."

"Ms Kamiya?" The doctor who came into the lounge holding a clipboard, wasn't one Kaoru remembered having seen before. However, given the number of hospital personnel she'd had to deal with in the past hours, she knew that not remembering didn't really mean anything.

"How is my father?" she asked, aware of how everybody else in the group had fallen silent and gathered around her supportively.

"He's currently stable; we're almost done setting his leg. He had two distinct fractures, and an anterior cruciate ligament tear—that's the knee joint. The other leg is fine, although he did sustain some cuts, which we've stitched, and his ankle was sprained. I'll give you some brochures on the knee injury. There were also numerous other lacerations, which we've stitched; there was significant blood loss, but fortunately you found him in time and none of the major arteries were hit. We didn't find any debris or glass in the injuries themselves, which is good. Some may turn up later, though; there are often small particles that work their way out of the wound once it starts healing. Three of his ribs were fractured, but fortunately there was no lung puncture."

The doctor flipped through some pages on his clipboard and continued, "The most significant issue, of course is the head injury. There's some swelling and a possible brain herniation we're keeping an eye on. We'll know more when the test results come back; once the surgery for his leg is finished, we'll do an MRI. Right now he's in a coma…"

Kaoru inhaled sharply, barely registering Kenshin's arm around her shoulder or the way that he was supporting her.

The doctor raised a hand. "It's not a deep coma; his score on the measurement scales is very good. He's breathing on his own, for now, but we have a respirator ready in case it becomes necessary. Really, with this kind of head trauma, a coma is very standard, and we'll be monitoring him very carefully. There were no toxins in his blood, and no sign of existing illness or infection, so we just need to keep an eye on the brain itself and see what the best course of action is."

"So is he going to be ok?" Misao demanded.

"With time and physical therapy, full recovery should be achievable," the doctor said, "Obviously, he'll need to work very hard to get his leg back up to full strength. In terms of the coma… well, as I said, we're going to be performing an MRI and determining the location and severity of the swelling. It's possible that he'll need to have surgery to remove fluid build-up, but really, Ms Kamiya, he seems to have, errr… had a very thick skull; there weren't any fractures."

Kaoru wasn't sure if the doctor was being serious or trying to make a joke. She tried to sneak a glance at Megumi, to see if she could glean any hints about hospital humor and how to react to it, but her cousin was busy scribbling notes and thus no help.

Having finished what he had come to say, the doctor closed his clipboard and looked at Kaoru, clearly awaiting a coherent response.

"Thank you," Kaoru said. _'I hope that counts as "coherent,"_' she thought.

Fortunately, the doctor, who was obviously used to talking with patients and their families under all sorts of circumstances, gave her a smile and said, "You're welcome. We'll update you when he's out of surgery and being moved to recovery. Feel free to ask at the desk if you need anything while you're waiting." With that, he turned and went back into the operating area

"I told you he was as hard-headed as the rest of you," Misao declared. Her voice held only the faintest traces of unsteadiness, and her jaw was determined as she said, "Alright… Megumi, when Yahiko gets here, where are they going to tell him to go? I mean, can he come up here without an escort or anything?"

"I'll go wait for him," Sano said, clearly relieved to have something constructive he could do. They know me; it won't be a problem to get back up here. Um… he'll have changed out of the samurai costume, right?"

Kaoru nodded distractedly as she sat down, feeling an odd mix of nerves and relief at the doctor's update. "Yes, he'll have changed… I assume he will have changed… I mean, he was wearing normal clothes when he went over there, and he had normal clothes for tomorrow for coming back… although, considering those two, they might have decided to have an all-out samurai pillow war or something…. The house has enough room for it, and that main bannister is horribly tempting for… "

Realizing that she was babbling, Kaoru closed her mouth and swallowed before trying again.

"Yahiko should have changed back; if he hasn't, I'm sure they can find scrubs for him, like they did with me. Thanks for volunteering, Sano; bring him up as soon as he gets here."

Sano nodded. "Ok. Want anything from the cafeteria when we come back?"

"Sanosuke Sagara!" Megumi interjected. "You did _not_ just offer my cousin something from the hospital cafeteria!"

"It's always seemed fine to me…" Sano replied weakly.

Megumi shuddered. "How does that relate to inflicting it on normal people? If we get hungry, we'll send you to get something later. Meanwhile, go wait for Yahiko to get dropped off. If Yutaro or his father ask how everything is going, just tell them that the doctors said things were stable. No point in giving them the details before Yahiko has had a chance to hear them from Kaoru."

"Right," Sano nodded sharply and headed out of the room.

As he started to leave, he almost collided with two police officers, one of whom was just raising her hand to knock.

"I'm sorry; is this where Ms Kaoru Kamiya is?" she asked.

"Yes?" Kaoru said. "May I help you?"

"Ah, good; Ms Kamiya, I'm Officer Kirihara; this is Officer Matsumoto. We would like to talk with you about what happened this evening, if that's alright."

"Can't this wait?" Misao demanded.

"It's best if we get a preliminary statement immediately, Miss," the other officer said as he came into the room. "Time is crucial in any investigation."

"It's ok, Misao; I don't mind."

The police sat down on the sofa Sano had just left, and Officer Matsumoto pulled out a notepad and pen as Kaoru sat down across from them. Sano leaned against the wall, all thoughts of waiting for Yahiko gone in the face of getting information about who he needed to go pound into the pavement. Kenshin stood behind her chair, ready to support her or glare at the police, depending.

"Now, Ms Kamiya," Officer Kirihara said, "Can you, in your own words, tell us about the events of last night?"

Kaoru swallowed. Looking at her pale face, Kenshin resisted the temptation to point out that discovering "the events of last night" was actually supposed to be the police's job.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I was at the Halloween party at the club from… oh, mid-afternoon onwards, helping with set-up. Then there was the actual party. That went until midnight, and then I helped with clean-up for a bit… um… half an hour? Maybe an hour? Katsu and Misao told me to go home, because I wanted to be sure to show D-dad my costume and… and…"

Taking a deep breath, and reminding herself that this was necessary, this was to help them catch whoever hurt her family, Kaoru continued.

"I drove back to the dojo from the club; there wasn't much traffic… it was late. I wasn't really looking at the building; I was thinking about… um… I was thinking about telling Dad about the party, and everything that had happened, and getting stuffed into that dress, and Sano proposing… and… everything. I thought Dad must be asleep already; the house was dark. Then I looked over and saw that the door to the hall was broken. I assumed that it must be teenagers again; they've been known to do stuff like that in the past. I think they watch too many ninja films with people flying through shoji doors…. Um… Anyway, the lights were broken; that seemed odd."

Kaoru hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was wise to start talking about how the courtyard had felt _wrong_ to her. Halloween or not, she doubted that bringing up the idea of demons to the police was going to be at all helpful.

"I started to really notice that something was wrong when I got close enough to see the damage more clearly… the wood was all splintered… I… there weren't any lights. And then when I went inside, Dad was just laying there, and there was blood, and I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't wake up, and I ran for the phone and called the ambulance and then stayed with him until they got there and then rode with him to the hospital."

Kenshin's hand on her shoulder helped to steady her. Kaoru took several deep, focusing breaths, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Officer Kirihara said, "These teenagers you've had problems with; have they been a regular issue, or just on Halloween?"

"There isn't… I mean, it's not like there's a particular group of kids. Last year, there were a bunch of them at a party or something, and they thought it would be funny to play a prank. Dad caught them, and he made them help repair everything. And take lessons."

The other officer raised his eyebrow. "So… they committed a crime, and in return your father gave them free fighting lessons?"

Lifting her chin, Kaoru glared at him. "The Kamiya Kasshin style believes in protecting life. We believe that people have potential, and that proper training can help them to find balance and release that potential. My father felt it would be more useful to give those kids a focus that didn't involve petty vandalism, one that taught them to respect themselves and showed them that they could accomplish something. It might interest you to know that three of them are going to be participating in the regional kendo tournaments this year."

Kaoru's tone and expression made the man in front of her raise a conciliatory hand. "I'm not saying that it was the same group; but, you know, what about some of their friends? Somebody who didn't like that your father was getting kids off the street, you know?"

Misao chimed in, "But if it was gangs, wouldn't they have just shot… um… err.. sorry; never mind…"

"It could have been meant as a warning," Officer Matsumoto said. "If they meant to vandalize the hall, in addition to whatever other Halloween pranks they had planned, they might have decided against bringing guns in case they were pulled over at any point."

"And they could have just grabbed the blade they used in the attack on site!" Officer Kirihara finished.

"Blade?" Kenshin asked, raising one eyebrow.

Consulting her notes, Officer Kirihara said, "According to the doctor, several of your father's injuries were cuts which were consistent with the use of a very sharp blade. If his attackers picked up a sword when, say, he discovered them…"

"Impossible," Kaoru cut in, "We teach kendo." Seeing their incomprehension, she clarified, "We don't use live steel; we don't have anything like that in the training hall."

"What about historical swords?" Kenshin asked softly. "Would there have been anything like that available?"

"Not in the dojo," Kaoru repeated. "We have some family swords, but they're all in the house."

'_And occasionally covered in ofuda and stuffed under the bed, but never mind…'_

"Yeah," Sano chimed in, "Don't want the students getting overly excited and deciding to play samurai or something."

Both police officers raised an eyebrow.

"Have you had difficulties with students attempting to 'play samurai' before, Ms Kamiya?"

Gritting her teeth and reminding herself that the officer was just doing her job, and that beating Sano over the head would not help prove that kendo helped teach control and emotional balance, Kaoru said, "You think the attackers were some of our students?"

"It does seem like it's a good…"

"You're wrong! None of our students would have done that! That's not what our style teaches!"

Before Kaoru could say anything else—or before the police could say anything which would lead to their receiving a personal demonstration of how effective Kamiya Kasshin could be without need for a blade--, Kenshin asked, "What about the other injuries?"

The second officer consulted his notepad, and said, "They're consistent with a fight. We'll have a team out to check the scene tomorrow morning, see if we can find any weapons nearby, any DNA, anything like that. Meanwhile, we'll wait for your father to wake up and see what he can tell us about who attacked him."

Kaoru opened her mouth, then closed it, recognizing the futility of saying anything else.

It wasn't surprising, really, that the police would see a student prank gone wrong, or some kind of gang retribution, or whatever it was that they were thinking. She supposed she should be grateful that they hadn't started asking pointed questions about where her brother was, or if he had any suspicious friends, or if her father had a cashbox in the office.

There were a lot of things that she wanted to say, but since most of them didn't involve the police, she simply smiled at them, assured them that she would inform them if she remembered anything else, shook their hands, and thanked them for their prompt attention.

After they left, Megumi said, "Those _idiots_. I can't believe that they would suggest that …."

Her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed. "And as for those opinions about his injuries, I think I need to go have a _word_ with the doctor."

Sano, no stranger to Megumi in this mood, tentatively said, "Umm… do you want me to go with you?"

"I can handle one idiot surgeon, Sano. You go wait for Yahiko downstairs."

"Right. Going. Back soon."

Misao jumped up and said, "I'll go with you; I'm gonna grab something out of the vending machine."

Before Kaoru could think of anything to say, the three of them had headed out the door.

"Misao hates hospitals…." Kaoru said faintly. "Her folks died in an accident when she was little, and she ended up wandering around alone for hours, because nobody was keeping track of her."

Kenshin knelt in front of her, still moving as if he was afraid to startle her. "It will be ok, Kaoru. This isn't like that."

"Then what is it like?" she asked, her eyes meeting his. "You and I both know that this wasn't some stupid teenage prank, Kenshin. What if… what if they were looking for…"

Kenshin embraced her, cutting off her words. "I promise you; I _swear_ to you, on my honor and my own blade, that this was not because you hid my sword, or because of anything else that you did. Nor was it the same thing that attacked your brother. Your father was never involved in this, and anybody who acted otherwise will answer to me."

"Not until after I'm done with them," she said simply, her words muffled against his shoulder.

It was exactly what he expected her to say, and it made him smile, in spite of everything else. Before he could respond, the door burst open and Yahiko ran in, his face pale, his expression that of a boy who had already lost one parent far too young.

He released Kaoru so that she could go hug her brother, reassuring him that their father was going to be fine, that the doctors had said it would take time for him to heal, but that he was going to be alright.

Yahiko made a sound that was suspiciously like a sniffle before he pulled away and demanded, "What happened? Why would anybody do this?"

"They don't know who did it yet, but the police are trying to figure it out. And… um… so is Kenshin. In case it's not really something for the police."

It took several seconds for this to sink in, but when it did, Yahiko looked from his sister to the red-head leaning casually against the wall and said, "Oh… you mean… this was one of _those_ things? A demon thing?"

"Possibly," Kenshin said. "The police seem determined to just label it as gang related; it wouldn't surprise me if they decide to throw in drug use just to round things out."

Yahiko snorted. "Yeah, right. Like Dad would get beat so easily."

For some reason, the thought that it had been demons or something supernatural that had gotten the better of his father seemed to go a long way towards cheering Yahiko up. From the way Kaoru rolled her eyes at her little brother, Kenshin could tell that being with him was doing good things for her state of mind as well.

"So, do you know what it was yet?" Yahiko asked, turning to Kenshin.

"Yahiko, he just got here! He hasn't had a chance to go investigate at the dojo yet!... you haven't had a chance to go investigate at the dojo yet, have you?" Kaoru demanded, also turning to face Kenshin.

"No, I haven't been there yet."

There was no need to mention that Aoshi was probably going over everything there with a fine-toothed comb and a peeved attitude.

"But when we find out what it could have been, we'll let you know." Before the younger boy could ask the question behind his eyes, Kenshin reassured him, "It wasn't what attacked you at the park."

"Oh, great, still more things that go bump in the night," Kaoru muttered under her breath.

The identical expressions on the siblings' faces had him almost smiling, but before they could ask more questions, the door opened and Megumi, Sano, and Misao came back in. Megumi's expression of satisfaction indicated that she'd not only managed to corner the "idiot surgeon," but had made sure to scare the stupidity right out of him. Misao appeared to have purchased half the contents of the vending machine, and Sano had cheerfully stolen several bags of indeterminate fried potato products.

"You want anything, Yahiko?" Misao asked.

"No… no more chocolate…" Yahiko said, looking faintly green.

"I agree; you should try to get some sleep. I got you a room." Megumi's satisfied grin said more than words could have about the strings she'd pulled to get Kaoru and Yahiko into an actual room at the hospital. "They'll let you know when there's more news."

With that, Megumi left the lounge, heading down the hall towards whatever room she'd scared the other doctors into leaving empty for her cousins, clearly expecting everybody to follow her.

And, after a few seconds of looking at each other, everybody did just that.

* * *

Kenshin carefully pulled the blanket up over Kaoru's sleeping form. Yahiko had pulled the curtains around his bed, curled up, and fallen asleep almost immediately, worn out after a long evening and trusting everybody else to wake him up if anything important happened. After both subtle hints and more direct remarks had failed, Megumi finally shooed everybody else out of the room, shoved her other cousin at the second bed and threatened to stick her with needles full of tranquilizers if she didn't get some sleep.

He supposed that it was possible that Megumi had meant to include him when she  
told everybody else to get out and let Kaoru sleep, but he had avoided any discussion of it by slipping into the shadows and then stepping back out once the room was clear and Kaoru's breathing had fallen into the even patterns of sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been watching her when he heard the faint ding noise of the elevator door from outside the room, but didn't bother to turn around. When the noise was repeated, somewhat louder, he sighed. Casting one last look at Kaoru's sleeping form and pulling the curtains around her bed, Kenshin walked out to the elevator and pushed the "down" button.

"It's about time, idiot," a deep booming voice said from inside. Gritting his teeth, Kenshin stepped in. As he looked around, he raised an eyebrow. Unless municipal hospitals had conducted a cost survey and determined that richly-stained mahogany siding and soft carpeting were conducive to helping patients get over their illness, it looked like his Master hadn't been able to resist showing off.

The space which he found himself in looked like a small study. He wasn't sure if the fire crackling in the marble fireplace was real in any recognizable sense, but, considering the sunlight streaming in through the neo-Gothic windows, he decided the fire wasn't worth quibbling over.

All in all, he was just grateful that his Master had changed out of the extravagent costume from earlier. Not that the cape was less flamboyant, but at least it usually sparkled less.

From his position in one of the dark leather club chairs by the fire, Seijouro Hiko swirled the clear liquid in his cup before taking a very precise sip. Looking at his apprentice, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Well?"

"The police have convinced themselves it was some kind of gang incident. I doubt they're going to look much beyond that. Kaoru's… Mr. Kamiya's injuries are serious, but not fatal; the training hall can be repaired; there weren't any other attacks. Also, there has been at least one other incident involving teenagers and the dojo at Halloween."

"And what is your opinion?"

"It seems…. rather unlikely that a group of half-trained teens could defeat a full-fledged Master of his own family's style."

"At least you're not completely hopeless. How is the girl taking it?"

Tightening his fists, Kenshin ground out, "She found her father in their dojo, in a pool of blood, wounded, unconscious… he's in a coma, and even once he's awake he's going to need months of physical therapy… how do you think she's taking it?"

It was only with great effort that Kenshin was able to refrain from lashing out at something. The thought of Kaoru coming home to find her father beaten and bleeding was bad enough; even worse was the way his imagination insisted on painting scenarios of what could have happened to her if she'd arrived at the dojo just a little earlier.

Hiko's tone was exasperated. "Aoshi set up wards. Saitoh was watching her at school. You were watching her at home. You were patrolling another section of the city, dealing with a very legitimate and known threat. Stop blaming yourself for something you couldn't have forseen happening"

Before Kenshin could say anything more, there was a whisper of shadow in one corner of the room and Aoshi stepped into the circle of firelight.

Without preamble, he stated, "Definitely supernatural; not any of the players we're familiar with; some oddities in the energy residue which preclude immediate identification. Hannya is keeping watch. I have several leads to investigate, but nothing definite."

Hiko looked thoughtful. "If this was meant as some kind of message, they did a very poor job of communicating it. It would have made more sense for them to attack the Kamiya girl directly. Put that down, you idiot, before you break it."

Kenshin looked down in surprise to find himself holding something brass and abstract-looking from the table. Slightly abashed, he put it down and attempted to join the discussion. "I told Kaoru that it wasn't because of anything she had done."

Aoshi nodded his agreement. "There was no attempt to attack the house, and no way that anybody could have known Kaoru was going to be visiting the dojo at that particular time. Himura, have you asked her about reasons her father might have been a target?"

"I didn't want to raise the subject so soon after the police tried to paint Mr. Kamiya as somebody dumb enough to teach teenaged delinquents how to beat him up."

Raising one eyebrow, the tall ninja said, "Yes… I can see where that would be unwise. It would be a good idea to ask, nonetheless. Hannya made some notes based on his observations at the dojo and in the hospital."

Aoshi handed a small notebook to Kenshin, who leafed through it. At one point, he raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Left-handed? That's unusual."

"Good; something unusual is something easier to track," Hiko commented. His tone implied that his two subordinates needed all the help they could get when it came to tracking. Both Kenshin and Aoshi ignored it with an expression born of long practice.

With an air of decisiveness, Hiko stood up and said, "Shinomori, finish your investigation of the dojo and then return to what you were doing. Set whatever wards you need to prevent anybody from finishing the job. Report back to me if you discover anything of interest in either area."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Aoshi stepped back into the shadows. Once he was gone, Hiko took a drink before he turned to Kenshin and said, "I realize that it's going to be completely useless to tell you to go back to our primary investigation before this issue is resolved. Therefore, you have permission to focus on protecting the Kamiya family. Saitoh is almost as bad as you are, by the way. He's been reporting in every half-hour, ostensibly to update me on how his patrol is going, and casually asking if there is any new information about the dojo attack."

"Did you explain to him that this hunt is _mine_?"

"If Saitoh is faster than you are in tracking down the culprit, I don't think any explanations by me will make the least bit of difference."

Kenshin glared, but Hiko merely took another drink. While he never directly encouraged competition among those who worked for him, he found it made them all much more enthusiastic if they knew that their target could get stolen out from under their noses.

And anything that made _his_ job easier was not to be disparaged.

In this case, however, he suspected that Saitoh would be disappointed. Not only was his idiot apprentice more than usually worked up about this, the Kamiya girl herself was full of surprises.

"If there's nothing else, _Master_," Kenshin said, "I will return to the hospital and finish reading Hannya's report before I talk with Kaoru tomorrow."

"An excellent course of action, and one which will definitely be more useful than standing around trying to glare a hole in my carpet. Shinomori or I will be in touch with any additional information. If you discover anything of importance, report it in the usual manner. And try not to do anything too idiotic on your own. This time."

Hiko managed not to smile at the way Kenshin's jaw clenched before he bowed and turned to leave.

Really, sometimes it was just too easy.

* * *

Next Chapter: Investigations, interrogations, and the serious possibility that putting the Kamiya siblings together in one apartment will result in culinary disasters sufficient to wipe out a small country.

In this chapter, I don't own: Officers Kirihara and Matsumoto (who are rather AU here).

Author's Note: Umm… would you believe that in an attempt at verisimilitude, the author put herself into a long-term coma for research purposes, hence the ridiculous delay? Actually, it was a combination of Real Life (insofar as graduate school counts; that is to say, neither "real" nor "a life") and wrestling with the medical terms and how best to arrive at "coma" without sounding like it was a soap-opera-style coma from which the character will wake up in three chapters with AMNESIA.

I am so thrilled that people have been reading and enjoying "Moonlight," even during my extended absence; I haven't had a chance to go and read all the reviews yet (figured I should work on getting this finished and posted first!). However, I look forward to them. If I can work out a system to respond to them, I will let folks know about it.


End file.
